If you are wondering how to listen to the Olympics, iHeartRadio has you covered. iHeartRadio is the exclusive audio home of NBC's coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics, so it is the only place to listen to the Olympics stream. The free iHeart app is where to go to listen to exclusive play-by-play action of Team USA. To celebrate, we are spotlighting some of the country's athletes that are vying for gold.
Katie Ledecky, born in Washington, D.C. in 1997, is a renowned American swimmer with an impressive record of seven Olympic gold medals and 21 World Championship titles. Her passion for swimming began at the age of six, inspired by her mother, a college-level swimmer.
Ledecky's talent was evident early on. During her high school years, she broke several long-standing American records and earned an athletic scholarship to Stanford University. While at Stanford, she continued to excel, winning eight National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) titles and setting 15 NCAA records. Her achievements contributed to her team's back-to-back NCAA Team Championships and two consecutive Pac-12 Conference Team Championships.
Ledecky made her Olympic debut at the tender age of 15 at the London 2012 games, where she won her first gold in the 800m freestyle. Her success continued at the Rio 2016 games, where she claimed the most individual titles in the pool and set new world records in the 400m and 800m freestyle. She also won gold in the 4x200m freestyle relay, finishing as the second most decorated athlete behind Michael Phelps.
At the Tokyo 2020 games, Ledecky added to her medal tally by retaining her 800m freestyle title and becoming the first women's 1500m freestyle Olympic champion. These achievements made her the most decorated American female athlete at consecutive Olympic Games and the most decorated female individual swimmer in history.
Beyond the Olympics, Ledecky has consistently excelled in major international swimming competitions like the World Championships and the Pan Pacific Championships. She is the only swimmer to win five consecutive world titles in an individual event, the 800m freestyle, and has not been beaten in this event for over a decade.
Standing at 1.83m tall, Ledecky has broken 14 world and 37 national records during her career. She still holds the world records in both the 800m and 1500m freestyles. Her unmatched accomplishments have redefined women's swimming and earned her the USA Swimming Golden Goggles Award for Female Swimmer of the Year seven times.
From exclusive NBC play-by-play action of Team USA to live hourly updates from the Games to original Summer Games podcasts, you can listen to the Olympics stream only on iHeartRadio. Find out more about how to listen.