With a silver in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay Thursday night, Ledecky collected the 13th medal of her stellar career to become the most decorated female in swimming history.
She would’ve preferred it to be gold, but that went to an Australian squad led by gold medalists Mollie O’Callaghan and Ariarne Titmus.
Still, in her next-to-last event of these games, Ledecky broke the mark she shared with fellow Americans Dara Torres, Natalie Coughlin and Jenny Thompson. The 27-year-old now has eight golds, four silvers and one bronze over four Olympics, with every intention of swimming on to Los Angeles in 2028.
Ledecky has one more event, the 800 freestyle. She’s the favorite for her fourth straight gold at that distance.