Ledecky claims 13th medal with silver win as McIntosh and Douglass secure gold
NANTERRE, France — The medal Katie Ledecky received wasn’t her top choice.
Nevertheless, it was sufficient to make history.
During a night when Canadian prodigy Summer McIntosh triumphed once more and Kate Douglass secured a gold for the United States, Ledecky attained her 13th medal in an illustrious career, becoming the most decorated woman in swimming history on Thursday.
Ledecky and three American teammates earned silver in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay, trailing an Australian team led by individual gold medalists Mollie O’Callaghan and Ariarne Titmus.
“There’s always pressure, but I think we were just going out there to do the best we could and win a medal and whatever records come with that medal will come and that’s what happened,” said Erin Gemmell, who took the anchor leg after Ledecky went third.
In her penultimate event of these games, Ledecky broke the record she shared with fellow Americans Dara Torres, Natalie Coughlin and Jenny Thompson. The 27-year-old now has eight golds, four silvers and one bronze over four Olympics, with every intention of swimming on to Los Angeles in 2028.
McIntosh cruised to victory in the 200 butterfly, handing American Regan Smith a familiar silver-medal finish.
But Douglass put the U.S. on the top of the podium in the 200 breaststroke, a race that essentially marked a changing of the guard.
Veteran American star Lilly King, competing in her final Olympics, finished last in the final. She made her way over several lane ropes to embrace Douglass, one of the world’s most versatile swimmers and now a gold medalist.
It was the fourth swimming gold for the world’s most dominant swimming nation, to go along with 10 silver medals and six bronzes.
No other American woman has more Olympic medals than Ledecky. Only four athletes rank higher on the overall list, which is led by Michael Phelps with 28.
O’Callaghan, gold medalist in the 200 freestyle, kicked off the Australians’ success, giving them a lead they never surrendered.
Lani Pallister and Briana Throssell maintained the team from Down Under in the lead, even as Ledecky attempted in vain to catch up to Throssell on the third leg.
When Titmus entered on the anchor leg with the lead, the result was essentially decided. The winner of the 400 freestyle and silver medalist in the 200 free finished in an Olympic record of 7:38.08.
Gemmell held off China to secure the U.S. the silver in 7:40.86. Claire Weinstein and Paige Madden completed the American team.
Yang Junxuan, Li Bingjie, Ge Chutong and Liu Yaxin earned the bronze in 7:42.34.
Ledecky has one more event, the 800 freestyle. She’s the favorite for her fourth straight gold at that distance.
China’s Zhang Yufei, the reigning Olympic champion and of nearly two dozen swimmers from her country who tested positive for a banned substance ahead of the Tokyo Games but were allowed to compete, set a fast pace in the 200 fly over the first half of the race.
No way she was holding off McIntosh, though.
The 17-year-old powered to the lead on the third 50 and left no doubt on the closing lap. She touched in an Olympic-record of 2:03.03.
Smith passed Zhang as well, but had no chance of chasing down the youngster who has established herself as one of the biggest stars at La Defense Arena.
McIntosh opened the games with a silver medal in the 400 freestyle, finishing ahead of Katie Ledecky, and blew away the field in the 400 individual medley.
This was another rout. Smith touched in 2:03.84 for the fourth silver medal of her career, which has yet to produce a gold. Zhang held on for the bronze in 2:05.09.
Douglass, who won a bronze in the 200 individual medley at Tokyo, now has a complete collection.
She started the Paris Games by helping the Americans win silver in 4×100 freestyle relay.
She grabbed the best color of all Thursday.
Douglass claimed the lead on the second of four laps and held off South Africa’s Tatjana Smith to win in 2:19.24.
Smith, who took gold in the 100 breaststroke, settled for a silver in 2:19.60, in what she said afterward was her last race. The bronze went to Tes Schouten (2:21.05) of the Netherlands.
King, the winner of five medals including two golds at the last two Olympics, failed to claim an individual prize in her Olympic farewell. She tied for fourth in the 100 breaststroke and finished more than 6 1/2 seconds behind Douglass in the 200.
Douglass has a chance to pick up another medal in the 200 IM.
Hungary’s Hubert Kós claimed gold in the 200 backstroke, another triumph for a swimmer coached by Bob Bowman.
Kós rallied on the final lap to pass Greece’s Apostolos Christou. The winner finished in 1:54.26, while Christou held on for the silver in 1:54.82. The bronze went to Roman Mityukov of Switzerland in 1:54.85.
Bowman coached Kós at Arizona State University, where he competed alongside the biggest swimming star of these games, France’s Léon Marchand.
Bowman now heads the program at the University of Texas, and Kós has transferred to join him.
Kós praised Bowman, best known as Michael Phelps’ coach, for pushing him to new heights.
“It’s been an incredible journey with him, and I’m just to happy be part of a team like that,” Kós said. “The magic touch is the work. He doesn’t let us be second best. He doesn’t let us stoop down to a level he doesn’t want from us. That brings out the best in us.”
Marchand set himself up for another gold-medal run, posting the fastest time (1:56.31) in the semifinals of the men’s 200 individual medley.
Already the winner of three gold medals, the Post Views: 301