Tokyo 2020, North America Day 7: Ledecky Will Continue To Paris, “Maybe” LA | SwimSwam

By James Sutherland on SwimSwam

2020 TOKYO SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES

• When: Pool swimming: Saturday, July 24 – Sunday, August 1, 2021
  • Open Water swimming: Wednesday, August 4 – Thursday, August 5, 2021
• Where: Olympic Aquatics Centre / Tokyo, Japan
• Heats: 7 PM / Semifinals & Finals: 10:30 AM (Local time)
• Full aquatics schedule
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Katie Ledecky ended her 2020 Olympic campaign on a high note Saturday morning in Tokyo, winning gold in her pet event, the women’s 800 freestyle.

Upon the conclusion of an Olympic Games that saw Ledecky have some up and down performances by her lofty standards, the question was immediately brought up: Is this it?

In a post-race interview with NBC, Ledecky quickly dismissed any notion of a retirement, saying she’s got at least three years left in her competitive swimming career, if not more.

“Oh, that was not my last swim. I’m at least going to ‘24, maybe ‘28,” said Ledecky, who will be 27 when the 2024 Games commence in Paris and 31 by the time LA 2028 rolls around. “We’ll see.”

“That was NOT my last swim. I’m at least going to ’24.”

See you in @Paris2024, @KatieLedecky. #TokyoOlympics x @TeamUSA

: NBC
: https://t.co/Hne9Yk1CKr
: NBC Sports App pic.twitter.com/s1amc6us7G

— #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) July 31, 2021

Only 24, a retirement announcement from Ledecky frankly would have been a shock, with her still very much at the top of her game in the middle-distance events.

The former Stanford Cardinal swam her fastest time since 2016 in winning silver behind Australian Ariarne Titmus in the 400 free, and was right on her flat-start best time anchoring the women’s 800 free relay in 1:53.7.

And while her individual times in the 800 and 1500 were well off her best, along with a poor showing in the 200 final, Ledecky is still very much a force in the sport and has a lot more rewriting of the history books to do.

In fact, she did some of that with her win in the 800, becoming just the third female to win the same event at three successive Olympics and the 37th athlete in Olympic history to win 10 medals.

And there’s more to come.

NORTH AMERICA QUICK HITS, DAY 7

• Caeleb Dressel broke the world record en route to winning gold in the men’s 100 butterfly final, clocking 49.45 to lower his previous mark of 49.50 set in 2019.
• Kylie Masse won her second silver medal of these Games in the women’s 200 backstroke, lowering her Canadian Record of 2:05.94 down to 2:05.42, becoming the sixth-fastest swimmer of all-time.

RECORDS, DAY 6

• World – Caeleb Dressel, men’s 100 butterfly (49.45)
• Olympic – Caeleb Dressel, men’s 100 butterfly (49.45)
• American – Caeleb Dressel, men’s 100 butterfly (49.45)
• Canadian – Kylie Masse, women’s 200 backstroke (2:05.42)

NORTH AMERICAN MEDAL TABLE AFTER DAY 6

	TOTAL MEDALS	GOLD	SILVER	BRONZE
USA	26	8	9	9
Canada	5	1	3	1

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