With her recent Tokyo Olympic wins, Katie Ledecky is on her way to catching Michael Phelps’s medal record. On July 27, the 24-year-old became the first-ever gold medalist in the women’s 1,500-meter freestyle final at the Tokyo Olympics. This is the first time that women have been able to compete in the 1,500-meter race, although it’s been a men’s event since the 1908 Summer Olympics. Her recent win brings her career Olympic medals to a total of 10, with six of them being for individual events. Katie now has more individual Olympic gold medals than any other woman in the history of the sport.
“Thank you, Tokyo, and thank YOU ALL for the tremendous support this week and over the years to get to this point,” Katie said in a post on Instagram. Teammates Natalie Hinds and Lilly King then showed their support for Katie on their Instagram Stories, while former Olympian Julie Foudy shared a picture of the two on her feed. Ahead, see how athletes, politicians, and more are congratulating the swimmer on her win.
Related: Katie Ledecky Now Holds a Record For the Most Individual Gold Medals at the Olympic Games
