Katie Ledecky claims 8th gold medal after 1,500m win, notching new Olympic record

NANTERRE, France — American swimmer Katie Ledecky has done it again, winning her 8th career gold medal Wednesday at the Paris Summer Olympics.

Ledecky, age 27, finished the women’s 1,500 meter freestyle final more than ten seconds ahead of the silver medal finisher.

"I'm happy with the time, happy with how it felt," Ledecky said after the race. "The happiness and the joy, it just comes out."

Ledecky also set a new Olympic record of 15:30.02. The 1,500 meter race is a grueling endurance event and Ledecky swam like a sprinter.

In front of a packed, roaring crowd at La Defense arena, she broke away early from the other swimmers, and gradually widened her lead. Stroke after stroke. Length after length. No one could catch her. Not even close.

"Doubts enter your mind, you just kind of stay positive through it all," Ledecky said of her preparation for this race. "I finally put together a swim I felt I was capable of."

Anastasiia Kirpichnikova of France won silver while Isabel Gose of Germany took bronze.

After receiving her gold medal, Ledecky grinned and waved at the crowd before hugging her coaches and teammates.

Ledecky has now won gold medals in four different Olympic games (the first female swimmer to do that) and hasn’t lost this race in 14 years. Incredibly, she now owns the 20 fastest times in history of the 1,500.

Speaking before her swim, Ledecky said she’s learned to love the intense, non-stop training regimen that’s allowed her to compete at this elite level for so long.

Ryan Murphy, an American Olympic gold medalist in the backstroke, was asked ahead of Wednesday's race about Ledecky's importance to U.S. swimming.

"She's constantly pushing the envelope on how she can improve and it's incredible for our sport," Murphy said.

"She's one of the best of all time. We're really lucky to have her on our team as both an athlete and a leader."

Another American, 21-year-old Torri Huske, a new star in these Olympics, also had a strong night.

After winning her first gold medal a few days ago, Huske raced to a silver medal in the women's 100 meter freestyle final.

"It feels amazing," Huske said Wednesday. "I've had so many people help me along the way. My teammates push me every single day in practice."

NPR's Juana Summers contributed reporting from Nanterre, France.