The 2024 Paris Olympics continued on Wednesday, with the United States returning to the top of the podium in the form of all-time great distance swimmer Katie Ledecky. The 27 year old won the 1,500 meter freestyle again in a dominant manner. Her time of 15:30.02 is an Olympic record – breaking her own record from the 2020 Games – and she now owns the 20 fastest times at the event in world history.
It’s Ledecky’s eighth Olympic gold — she’s tied with Jenny Thompson for most by an American woman — and her 12th Olympic medal overall, tying her with Thompson, Natalie Coughlin and Dara Torres for most by a female swimmer.
Other American medalists Wednesday were Perris Benegas (women’s BMX freestyle – silver), Torri Huske (women’s 100m freestyle – silver) and Evy Leibfarth (women’s canoe slalom – bronze).
That gives the United States a total of 30 medals among the top 30 medals at the Paris Games, four ahead of host France. However, the Americans’ five gold medals rank seventh. Still, Team USA’s men’s and women’s basketball are off to a strong start as Olympic gold favorites, and the women’s soccer team — also a strong contender for gold — has also impressed. Biles and Suni Lee are frontrunners for more gold in gymnastics Thursday, and USA Track & Field often produces results that lead to multiple renditions of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
The United States entered these games with the most Olympic medals ever won at the Summer Games. The US also holds the record for most gold medals won in a single match, with 83 captured in 1984, one of the country’s hosting years that occurred when the Soviet Union led a twelve-nation boycott of the Los Angeles Games . Such lofty totals are unlikely to happen again in 2024. In Paris, America simply wants to build on the success it had three years ago, when the US took home 39 gold, 41 silver and 33 bronze medals.
View the number of medals for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris below. It will be updated regularly as events conclude through the conclusion of the Summer Olympics on August 11.