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Katie Ledecky, right, celebrates with teammate Paige Madden after winning her fourth straight 800-meter freestyle gold medal. Madden finished third. Brynn Anderson/Associated Press
NANTERRE, France — Every year on Aug. 3, Katie Ledecky is reminded of her first Olympic gold medal.
She was just 15 years old, a reserved high schooler who surprisingly made the U.S. swim team for the London Games. Then she shocked the world, beating everyone in the 800-meter freestyle.
Twelve years to the day, Ledecky did it again.
Not a stunner, but one for the ages.
Gold medal No. 9.
Ledecky capped another stellar Olympics by becoming only the second swimmer to win an event at four straight Summer Games, holding off Ariarne Titmus of Australia on Saturday night.
It was Ledecky’s second gold medal in Paris and the ninth of her remarkable career. She became only the sixth Olympian to reach that figure, joining swimmer Mark Spitz, track star Carl Lewis, Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina and Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi in a tie for second place.
The only athlete to win more golds: swimmer Michael Phelps, with 23.
Ledecky was very aware of the significance of the date.
“Every August 3rd, the video (of her first Olympic gold) gets posted somewhere and you kind of reminisce,” she said. “So, when I saw it was August 3rd, I was like, ‘Oh boy, I’ve got to get the job done.’”
That she did, going faster than her winning time in Tokyo as she finished in 8 minutes, 11.04 seconds. Titmus was right on her shoulder nearly the entire race, but Ledecky pulled away in the final 100.
Titmus, who beat Ledecky in the 400 freestyle, settled for silver in 8:12.29. The bronze went to another American, Paige Madden at 8:13.00.
Phelps is only other swimmer to win the same event at four straight Olympics, taking gold in the 200 individual medley at Athens, Beijing, London and Rio de Janeiro.
Summer McIntosh stamped herself as one of the swimming stars of the Paris Olympics with her third individual gold medal, winning the women’s 200 IM.
The 17-year-old Canadian chased down American Alex Walsh and held off another U.S. swimmer, Kate Douglass, as she set an Olympic record – 2:06.56.
Douglass grabbed the silver at 2:06.92, but the Americans lost the bronze when Walsh, the silver medalist in this event at Tokyo who recorded a time of 2:07.06, was disqualified because she did not finish the backstroke segment on her back.
Walsh’s younger sister, Gretchen, later helped the U.S. set a world record in the 400 mixed medley relay. Ryan Murphy, Nic Fink, Walsh and Torri Huske held off China for a winning time of 3:37.43, breaking the mark of 3:37.58 set by Britain when it won gold in the event’s Olympic debut three years ago.
TRACK AND FIELD: Sha’Carri Richardson’s comeback story hit a brick wall when Julien Alfred romped in the rain to the women’s 100-meter title in 10.72 seconds, bringing the first-ever Olympic medal to her island country of Saint Lucia.
Racing one lane to the left of Richardson, and with water from a fast-moving storm puddling on the purple track in the Stade de France, Alfred got off to a fantastic start, then powered through the rain and beat Richardson by .15 seconds.
It was the biggest margin in the women’s 100 final since 2008, when Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce won by .20 to headline a Jamaican sweep.
Richardson’ training partner, American Melissa Jefferson, finished third in 10.92 seconds.
In the men’s shot put, Ryan Crouser earned his third straight gold medal, and U.S. teammate Joe Kovacs grabbed his third silver medal in a row.
Another silver went to the U.S. 1,600 mixed relay team, which got reeled in by Femke Bol of the Netherlands on the anchor lap.
Jasmine Moore won a bronze medal in the triple jump, setting herself up for a possible double when she competes in the long jump later in the Olympics.
MEN’S BASKETBALL: Halfway to its goal of gold, the U.S. has the No. 1 seed going into the medal round.
Anthony Edwards scored 26 points, six players reached double figures for the U.S. and the Americans rolled past Puerto Rico, 104-83.
The Americans will play Brazil in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.
Joel Embiid scored 15 points for the U.S. Kevin Durant added 11, LeBron James finished with 10 points, eight assists and six rebounds in 18 minutes, and Jayson Tatum had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
SHOOTING: Vincent Hancock of the United States beat his student, Conner Prince, to capture his fourth Olympic gold medal in men’s skeet.
Hancock coaches Prince, a first-time Olympian, and shared a hug with his silver medal-winning student after making his last two shots to ensure the gold. He hit 58 out of 60 shots, to Prince’s 57.
Hancock is the only skeet shooter to take the Olympic gold more than once.
GOLF: Xander Schauffele erased a two-shot deficit with a 25-foot eagle putt, and Jon Rahm answered with a big putt of his own, setting up a star-heavy chase for the gold medal in Sunday’s final round.
Schauffele, the defending Olympic champion, and Rahm were at 14-under 199, tying the 54-hole Olympic record set by Schauffele at the Tokyo Games.
Tommy Fleetwood of Britain shot a 69 and was one shot behind. Hideki Matsuyama (71) was three behind along with Denmark’s Nicolai Hojgaard, who roared into contention with a 62.
3×3 BASKETBALL: Germany, Spain, the U.S. and Canada advanced to Monday’s semifinals.
Germany and Spain finishing in the top two spots at the end of pool play.
The defending champion U.S. and Canada won play-in games Saturday night. The U.S. beat China, 21-13, and Canada posted a 21-10 win over Australia.
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