Katie Ledecky Triumph: Her Bold Vision for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics
During the 2024 Paris Olympics Closing Ceremony, swimmer Katie Ledecky, carrying Team USA’s flag alongside rower Nick Mead, revealed her plans to Katie Ledecky Triumph at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
Katie Ledecky hopes she has another length in her.
After breaking the record as the most decorated U.S. woman to ever compete in the Olympics in Paris 2024, the swimmer gave insight into her plans for competing in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
“I’d love to swim in 2028,” Katie, who served as flag bearer alongside rower Nick Mead, told Jimmy Fallon and Mike Tirico during the Closing Ceremony Aug. 11. “I think swimming in front of a home crowd would be incredible. Just taking it one year at a time, and give my best effort each year.”
Of course, Katie, who is currently 27 and would be 31 during Los Angeles 2028, has a long time to prepare for the next summer games. At the moment, she’s basking in her four 2024 Olympic medal wins—which include two gold medals, one silver and one bronze—during an extended stay in Paris.
“This is my first Olympics where I’ve stayed the second week,” she added during the Closing Ceremony. “I got see basketball games, I got to golf. I’ve met so many athletes from so many different sports. And I’ve just been cheering my head off. Whether I’m in person or watching on TV watching the last few things today, it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
And Katie, who made her Olympics debut at 15 in London 2012, has also emphasized that competing in the Games is no easy feat—no matter how she makes it look from the water.
“It doesn’t get any easier,” she told the Washington Post after breaking the record with her eighth gold medal win July 31. “I do try to enjoy it each year. There’s different perspective that I have different years and different challenges that you face each year in training and as you get older.”
But no matter how historic her wins at Paris 2024, Katie has also made it clear she isn’t competing for the accolades—or to beat out former swimming greats like Jenny Thompson and Dara Torres, who previously tied for the record of the most medals won by a U.S. woman with 12.
“I try not to think about history very much or any of that,” she added to the Washington Post. “But I know those names, those people that I’m up with. They’re swimmers that I looked up to when I first started swimming. It’s an honor to just be named among them.”