Katie Ledecky and Michael Phelps; All sources – Getty

Katie Ledecky has responded to Michael Phelps after the American claimed that the other nations are now catching up to the standard the US swimming athletes set over the years. Ledecky did not agree entirely with the opinion, pointing out that the US still tops the leaderboard in gold and total medal count.

Katie Ledecky, the 27-year-old swimmer from the US who earned the title of the most decorated female swimmer in history, competed in her fourth edition of the Olympics in Paris. She, who unexpectedly won the 800m freestyle gold at the 2012 London Olympics, hit the Paris waters as the 800m and 1500m freestyle top seed.

Ledecky swam the 1500m freestyle in a gold-winning time of 15:30.02 (Olympic record) and won the 800m freestyle event in 8:11.04. However, she lost her gold to Australian swimmer Ariarne Titmus in the 400m freestyle and clinched the silver in the 4x200m freestyle.

Michael Phelps, statistically the greatest Olympic swimmer of all time, was present to watch the US swim team in action at the Olympics. According to him, swimmers from other nations are already catching up with the trailblazers.

“A lot of things that we’ve done as a country for so long, the other people are catching up.” (via the TikTok post of Sports Seriously)

But Ledecky didn’t speak in the same line because the US swimming team topped the leaderboard at the 2024 Games, like the previous years when Phelps dominated. The total medal count of the US stands at 28 and Australia trails at No. 2 with 19.

“Well, USA swimming came out on top of the medal count once again, both the gold medals and the total medal count. So, we’re very happy with the outcome,” she responded.

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Katie Ledecky: “That’s what you want at the Olympics, you want to race the best of the best”

Katie Ledecky faced an upset in the 400m freestyle behind her Tokyo Olympic rival Ariarne Titmus and rising star of Canada, Summer McIntosh. Several other nations like Great Britain and China also sent their best at the 2024 quadrennial Games. In a conversation after the Games, Ledecky agreed that the swimmers are getting faster and competing with the best of the best would be exciting.

“Everyone’s learning how to train in different ways and get faster. There’s more specificity in terms of events and what people are focussing on. So, it just creates really good competition. And that’s what you want at the Olympics. You want to race the best of the best,” she said. (via Sports Seriously TikTok)

Katie Ledecky holds the world record in 800m and 1500m freestyle and women’s swimming record with eight individual gold in the Olympics and 26 overall medals at the World Championships.