"He passed on a little greatness": Katie Ledecky spills beans on the story behind viral Michael Jordan video
Nine-time Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky has addressed the viral video of her playing peekaboo with NBA legend Michael Jordan. The clip, originally posted by Ledecky on her X (formerly Twitter) page, resurfaces on social media every time she competes.
In an interview with Overtime, Ledecky recounted the story behind the video, revealing that even at two years old, she was aware of Michael Jordan and his greatness.
She joked that she believes Michael Jordan passed some of his greatness to her during their playful interaction.
“I like to think that he, you know, inspired me and passed on a little bit of his greatness,” Ledecky said. “It definitely was, you know, really inspiring to be around some professional athletes from such a young age.”
Ledecky explained that she had access to Jordan because her uncle was one of the owners of the Washington Capitals at the time, and “His Airness” was playing for the Washington Wizards.
She detailed the incident, humorously noting how unfazed her two-year-old self was during her interaction with the basketball legend.
“I was eating my popcorn, and Michael Jordan started playing peekaboo with me,” she said. “I was totally unfazed, just kept eating my popcorn, and he started covering my mouth to try to prevent me from getting the popcorn in my mouth.”
“I think Zach (Leonsis), at one point in the video, if you look very closely, says, ‘Do you know who that is?’ And I say, ‘Michael Jordan.’ So I was definitely aware of how great he was, who he was, but I was totally unfazed by it.”
Now, twenty-five years later, Ledecky has become an all-time great in women’s swimming.
Looking at Katie Ledecky and Michael Jordan’s Olympic records
In the 2024 Paris Olympics, Ledecky set a record for the most swimming medals won by any woman in Olympics history, with 14 medals.
She won two gold, one silver and one bronze in Paris, bringing her total gold tally to nine, tying her with Russian gymnast Larisa Latynina for the most Olympic gold medals won by a woman. Latynina won nine golds between 1956 and 1964.
Ledecky also made Olympic history by becoming the first female swimmer to win gold at four different games.
Meanwhile, Jordan won two Olympic gold medals.
He secured his first in 1984 and his second in 1992 as part of the "Dream Team."
Jordan averaged 16.0 points, 2.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.8 steals in his Olympic career.