Ledecky makes U.S. history with 13th medal

PARIS -- Katie Ledecky is now the most decorated American woman in Olympic history.

With a silver medal Thursday in the 4x200 meter relay, Ledecky won her 13th medal, breaking a tie with swimmers Natalie Coughlin, Jenny Thompson and Dara Torres.

Ledecky has eight golds, four silvers and one bronze in her Olympic career. The eight golds are just one shy of the women's record, held by Larisa Latynina, a gymnast from the Soviet Union whose final Olympics was in Tokyo (1964).

The 27-year-old Ledecky also becomes the most decorated woman in swimming history, regardless of country, and is second only in the Olympic pool to American icon Michael Phelps, who had 28 medals all-time.

Ledecky has one more individual event to go in Paris: the women's 800-meter freestyle, with qualifying Friday and the final on Saturday.

But she has no plans on stopping. After dominating the 1,500-meter freestyle Wednesday, the 27-year-old Ledecky said she has no plans to quit anytime soon and that she hopes to compete for Team USA at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

Ledecky and her teammates were not able to upset Australia in the women's 4x200 meter freestyle relay on Thursday, however. The Aussies, led by Mollie O'Callaghan and Ariarne Titmus, earned the gold.

O'Callaghan, gold medalist in the 200 freestyle, started things off for the Australians, giving them a lead they never relinquished as Lani Pallister and Briana Throssell kept the team out front, even as Ledecky tried in vain to chase down Throssell on the third leg.

When Titmus dove in on the anchor leg with the lead, it was essentially over. The winner of the 400 freestyle and silver medalist in the 200 free finished in an Olympic record of 7:38.08.

Emma Gemmell held off China to give the U.S. the silver in 7:40.86. Claire Weinstein and Paige Madden rounded out the American squad.

Yang Junxuan, Li Bingjie, Ge Chutong and Liu Yaxin earned the bronze in 7:42.34.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.