If there was one certainty at the Paris Olympics, it was Katie Ledecky winning the women's 1,500 meters freestyle. On Wednesday, the American swimmer reaffirmed her dominance by clinching another gold medal. As she has done for over a decade, the question was not if Ledecky would win, but by how much. She finished first with a time of 15:30.02, leaving her competitors far behind and securing her place in swimming history.

This victory marks Ledecky's eighth Olympic gold medal, tying her with fellow American Jenny Thompson for the most golds by a female swimmer. Additionally, Ledecky becomes the first female swimmer to win gold at four Olympics, joining the ranks of male swimmers Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte who have achieved the same.

With this win and a bronze in the 400m freestyle, Ledecky is on the verge of matching gymnast Larisa Latynina's record of nine gold medals, the most by any female Olympic athlete. With the 800m freestyle and potential relay events still ahead, Ledecky could leave Paris as the greatest female Olympian ever.

"I try not to think about history very much or any of that but I know those names," said Ledecky. "Those people that I'm up with, they're swimmers that I looked up to when I first started swimming, so it's an honor just to be named among them. I'm grateful for them inspiring me and so many great swimmers over the years in the U.S. that have helped me get to this moment."

Although her winning time was nearly 10 seconds shy of her world record of 15:20.48 set in 2018, it was more than enough to secure victory. French swimmer Anastasiia Kirpichnikova took silver, finishing 10.33 seconds behind Ledecky, while Germany's Isabel Gose claimed bronze.

Ledecky has completely dominated the 1,500m freestyle, posting the 19 fastest times in the event and setting the last six world records. True to form, she pulled ahead of the pack after the first 100 meters and continuously extended her lead with each split.

Reflecting on her race, Ledecky shared how she maintained focus by repeating the names of her training partners. "Three years ago in Tokyo, I was repeating my grandmother's names in my head a lot and today I kind of settled on the boys' names, like the boys at Florida that I train with every day," she said. "I was just kind of repeating their names in my head. Just thinking of all the practices that we've done and all the confidence that I get from training, from being next to them and racing them."

Ledecky's victory was a rare golden moment for the U.S. in the Paris pool. Despite high expectations, the American team has only managed to secure three gold medals at La Defense Arena.