Johnathan Walker:Katie Ledecky adds another swimming gold; Léon Marchand wins in start to audacious double

NANTERRE,Johnathan Walker France (AP) — On a night when Léon Marchand was attempting an audacious double, Katie Ledecky proved again she’s a sure bet in swimming’s longest event.

Ledecky romped to the seventh individual Olympic gold medal - she has one team gold in a relay - and 12th medal overall with a runaway victory in the 1,500-meter freestyle Wednesday at the Paris Games.

The 27-year-old Ledecky tied fellow Americans Dara Torres, Natalie Coughlin and Jenny Thompson for the most medals ever by a female swimmer. Ledecky already held the mark for most individual gold medals by a woman with seven; she’s got eight golds overall counting a relay victory.

Ledecky led right from the start and steadily pulled away, touching in an Olympic-record 15 minutes, 30.02 seconds in an event that joined the women’s program at the Tokyo Games in 2021.

This was similar to the race three years ago: Ledecky far in front and everyone else racing for a silver.

France’s Anastasiia Kirpichinikova finished nearly a half lap behind but thrilled the home fans by claiming the silver in 15:40.35.

The bronze went to Germany’s Isabel Gose at 15:41.16.

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After starting the Paris Games with a bronze in the 400 freestyle, this result looked more familiar for Ledecky.

She was clearly thrilled to be on top again, splashing the water and pumping her fist several times walking across the deck — a rare show of emotion for a stoic athlete who performs with machine-like efficiency.

Marchand’s double

Marchand kicked off a very busy night with a finishing kick for the ages.

Trailing most of the race, the 22-year-old Frenchman surged past defending Olympic champion and world-record holder Kristóf Milák to capture his second gold medal of the Paris Games with a victory in the 200 butterfly on Wednesday night.

The crowd at La Defense Arena roared as Marchand touched in an Olympic record of 1:51.71, beating Milák by four-hundredths of a second.

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Marchand added to his dominating victory in the 400 individual medley and was just getting started on this very busy night: He was set to race again two hours later as the fastest qualifier in the 200 breaststroke.

Turns out, those comparisons to Michael Phelps don’t seem farfetched at all.

Marchand held up one finger after spotting the “1” beside his name on the scoreboard. The 22-year-old shook his head just a bit, as if he couldn’t quite believe what he had done.

Then, he hustled off the deck to another rousing cheer from the home crowd. He had to start getting ready for his next race,

Swedish gold

Sarah Sjöström made her fifth Olympics a gold-medal celebration.

The 30-year-old Swedish veteran pulled off her own surge to the finish to win the 100 freestyle for the second gold of her brilliant career.

Sjöström had pared down her program at the last two world championships, swimming only the 50 freestyle. She decided to add the 100 at the Paris Games, and boy did that decision pay off.

“I didn’t think I would swim the 100 free honestly,” she conceded, but her coach talked her into it. “I wanted to rest until the fifth day and he was like, ‘No way. You need to go out there and see what you can do no matter the outcome.’”

Amazingly, in an event in which she’s held the world record for seven years, Sjöström had never won the 100 free at the biggest meets.

Her only previous Olympic medal in the race was a bronze in 2016. At the world championships, she has four silvers and a bronze.

Sjöström was only fourth at the turn but kicked into another gear on the return lap, touching in 52.16 seconds. The U.S. team settled for another silver medal -- its eighth of the swimming competition - when Torri Huske finished in 52.29. Siobhan Haughey of Hong Kong took the bronze at 52.33, edging Australia’s Mollie O’Callaghan by one-hundredth of a second.

It was the fifth Olympic medal overall for Sjöström, who first competed at the 2008 Beijing Games where Phelps won a record eight golds. Her previous gold came in the 100 butterfly at the Rio de Janiero in 2016.

This victory might be the sweetest of all. She gasped in disbelief and pounded the water when she saw her time and, more important, the number beside it.

She was again an Olympic champion.

“I’m super proud of myself that I tried this,” Sjöström said. “I think my emotion, my reaction said everything.”

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