Most Americans know the name [autotag]Katie Ledecky[/autotag] heading into the 2024 Paris Games, but where does the current Florida Gators volunteer swim coach rank among 21st-century Olympians?
Just two days ahead of the Opening Ceremonies in France, ESPN released its list of the top 25 Olympic athletes since 2000 and Ledecky is fourth overall.
Ledecky is a 10-time Olympic medalist, including seven golds. She’s won a record 21 world championship golds and holds the world records in the 800-meter and 1,500-meter freestyle. The 27-year-old swimmer moved her training base from Stanford to the University of Florida in 2021.
The three athletes ahead of Ledecky on this list are deserving. At the top of the list is none other than Michael Phelps — a record 28-time Olympic medalist, 23-time Olympic gold medalist and the record holder for most gold medals at a single Olympics when he won eight at Beijing in 2008.
At No. 2 is America’s favorite gymnast, Simone Biles, who is looking to become the first gymnast to win all-around gold in nonconsecutive years. She brought home four golds for the U.S. in 2016 before dealing with the “twisties” in the 2020 Tokyo Games. Now back, Biles has a chance to pass Phelps on this list.
The final Olympian ranked ahead of Ledecky is Usain Bolt, whose 2009 world record in the 100-meter sprint (9.58 seconds) has him cemented in the minds of most as the fastest man to ever live.
Bolt and Phelps are retired and can’t add on to their legacies, but Biles and Ledecky enter the Paris Games as favorites in their respective fields.
Ledecky dominated the U.S. Trials, winning all four of her events (200 freestyle, 400 freestyle, 800 freestyle and 1,500 freestyle). She won the 1,500 by more than 20 seconds and expressed a bit of disappointment that she hadn’t recorded a faster time.
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