Katie Ledecky talks about her favorite moments from collegiate and Olympic careers, thanksgiving traditions, and more

By Abhishek Rathore

Modified Nov 21, 2024 16:40 GMT

America's most decorated female swimmer, Katie Ledecky, recently opened up to her fans about her favorite moment from the Paris Olympics, where she earned four medals. She also discussed her collegiate career, Thanksgiving traditions, and revealed the other sports she has tried besides swimming.

After wrapping up her 2024 season at the Paris Olympics, the 27-year-old was recognized in Sports Illustrated's 2024 list of 50 Most Influential Figures in Sports for her remarkable achievements. In a recent update, Ledecky interacted with her fans through a Q&A session on her Instagram.

When a fan inquired about her favorite memory from the Paris Olympics, Ledecky shared a video of Team USA celebrating its campaign during the closing ceremony and replied:

"LOTS of great memories. Celebrating @teamusa at the Closing Ceremony was a highlight."

In response of her favorite Thanksgiving tradition, the swimmer shared:

"Helping my mom with the cooking."

When a fan asked her about her three favorite events from high school, college, and the Olympics, she responded:

"High school - 200 free relay (50 free funnnn), College - 800 free relay on day 1 of NCAAs, Olympics - 800 free and alllllll the relays."

Stills from Katie Ledecky's Instagram Stories

The US swimming icon once again dominated the pool by reigning supreme at the Paris Olympics, where she defended both her 800m and 1500m freestyle golds from the Tokyo Olympics. In addition, Ledecky also won a bronze medal in the 400m freestyle and contributed to the United States' silver win in the 4x200m freestyle relay. Furthermore, the Washington, DC, native set a new Olympic record in the 1500m freestyle event by winning the marathon event with a time of 15:30.02.

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"Self-improvement and enjoying training every day" - Katie Ledecky on what drives her

Katie Ledecky at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 (Source: Getty)

Katie Ledecky's performance at the Paris Olympics also saw her equal the 60-year-old record set by Soviet artistic gymnast Larisa Latynina for the most Olympic gold medals by a female (nine). When asked about what keeps her motivated even after so may years, the Olympian replied:

"Self-improvement and enjoying training every day. I love going to the pool every day. I'm kind of dreading the little break that I'm going to take coming up." (via Olympics.com)

"I know I'll get back in the water probably pretty soon. I just love the feeling of being in the water and going to practice every day and working as hard as I can," she added.

Ledecky also revealed that she finds more enjoyment in her training sessions than in the races themselves.