It wasn’t the medal Katie Ledecky would’ve preferred.
Still, it was good enough for the record books.
On a night when Canada’s Summer McIntosh romped to another victory and Kate Douglass claimed a gold for the Americans, Ledecky collected the 13th medal of her career to become the most decorated woman in swimming history Thursday.
Ledecky and three American teammates took silver in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay, trailing an Australian squad led by individual gold medalists Mollie O’Callaghan and Ariarne Titmus.
In her next-to-last event of these games, Ledecky broke the mark she shared with fellow Americans Dara Torres, Natalie Coughlin and Jenny Thompson. The 27-year-old now has eight golds, four silvers and one bronze over four Olympics, with every intention of swimming on to Los Angeles in 2028.
McIntosh cruised to victory in the 200 butterfly, dealing American Regan Smith a familiar silver-medal finish.
But Douglass put the U.S. on the top of the podium in the 200 breaststroke, a race that essentially served as a changing of the guard.
Longtime American star Lilly King, competing in her final Olympics, finished last in the final.
No other American woman has more Olympic medals than Ledecky.
Only four athletes rank higher on the overall list, which is led by swimming great Michael Phelps with 28.
US rowers end title drought: When Liam Corrigan yelled out “red!” entering the final stages of the regatta, the rest of the American crew knew it was time to go hard.
They all gave it an extra push, picking up the pace just in time to fend off an attack from their rivals and secure the United States its first rowing gold medal in the men’s four class since 1960. It also was the first rowing gold for the U.S. at the Paris Olympics.
Corrigan, Justin Best, Michael Grady and Nick Mead won the elusive gold by beating out New Zealand and defending world champion Britain The last time the U.S. men’s four had stood on the Olympic podium was in 2012 in London, where it won bronze.
All four Americans who got the gold on Thursday were at the Tokyo Games but left without any medals. Best, Mead and Corrigan finished fourth in the eight class and Grady finished fifth in the four.
Tennis tourneys hit home stretch: Carlos Alcaraz says he doesn’t feel unbeatable at Roland Garros, the site of the Paris Olympics tennis competition and the French Open title he won last month. His opponents might disagree.
Alcaraz ran his winning streak at the place to 11 matches and became the youngest man to reach the singles semifinals at a Summer Games since Serbia’s Novak Djokovic in 2008, getting past Tommy Paul of the U.S. 6-3, 7-6 (7) at Court Philippe Chatrier.
“I had a really great two weeks in Roland Garros — playing great tennis here, feeling great moving, feeling great hitting the ball. So (I came) here having the same feeling,” said Alcaraz, a 21-year-old Spaniard with four Grand Slame singles titles. “But I can lose against everybody. I have to respect every player.”
In the semifinals Friday, Alcaraz will take on Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada, and the 37-year-old Djokovic will meet Lorenzo Musetti of Italy. Djokovic, winner of a record 24 Grand Slam singles titles and an Olympic bronze medal, felt pain in his surgically repaired right knee while beating Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 7-6 (3) and said he’s concerned about how he’ll be against Musetti.
Musetti, 22, eliminated Tokyo gold medalist Alexander Zverev of Germany 7-5, 7-5.
The women’s final Saturday will be between Zheng Qinwen of China and Donna Vekic of Croatia. Zheng defeated No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland 6-2, 7-5, while Vekic was a 6-4, 6-0 winner against Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia.