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NANTERRE, France — The color of the medal was expected. For Katie Ledecky, there was absolutely no shame in winning the first bronze of her storied Olympic career in what has become her most competitive international race, the 400-meter freestyle. 

But how it happened — what did and did not occur over four intense minutes on Saturday night at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games — was something Ledecky wasn’t expecting at all.

Ledecky, 27, the greatest female swimmer in history, added an 11th medal to her remarkable resume stretching back to the 2012 London Olympics, but when she went to kick into another gear to finish the race, it wasn’t there.

“I looked at my splits, there was nothing that was horrible about it,” she said afterward. “I just didn’t have it on the last 200, 250, the way I wanted to. I felt like my first 150 was pretty good, went out with the field or felt like I was within striking distance. I just couldn’t kick into that next gear that I would have wanted to, to finish it out.”

But Ledecky being Ledecky, as grounded as any American sports superstar, she saw the silver lining, even if this time it was bronze. 

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“It’s a medal,” she said. “I know it was such a good field that there was a chance I could have not gotten a medal. I’m grateful for that. Grateful for the effort that I put in, happy with the medal and looking forward to my next races.” 

For the second Olympics in a row, Australia’s Ariarne Titmus won the 400, which has become one of the marquee events in the sport. Three years ago in Tokyo, Ledecky was second. This time, it was Canadian 17-year-old Summer McIntosh who won the silver. 

The two of them, Titmus and McIntosh, traded the world record last year, with Titmus now owning it, but neither swam anything close to their fastest time Saturday night. Titmus’ winning time of 3:57.49 was more than two seconds off her world record of 3:55.38, and McIntosh was almost a second behind Titmus. 

Ledecky, who held the 400 world record for nearly six years before Titmus broke it in May 2022, swam 4:00.86. That she failed to break four minutes was another surprise, perplexing to her and to just about everyone else. Little more than a month ago, she swam 3:58.35 at the U.S. Olympic trials. 

“Yeah, it felt a little faster than that,” she said. “I mean the top three, we probably all would say we would have liked to have been a little faster. … I’ve been faster a few times this season but you can’t complain with the medal. The Olympics is all about racing, it’s all about getting your hand to the wall for a gold, a silver, a bronze. I’m happy I got my hand to the wall for a medal. That wasn’t my best performance of the season but I still was able to get a medal.” 

In her three previous Olympic Games, Ledecky won seven gold medals and three silvers. She is favored to win the gold medal in both the 800 and 1,500 freestyle events later in these Olympics, and will likely win a medal as a member of the U.S. women’s 4x200 freestyle relay team.

“I don’t think there’s a lot that I can, or any of us should, read from this race going into the 800 and 1,500,” Ledecky said. “They’re pretty different from the 400. I do get two days off, which I don’t think I’ve ever really had at a meet like this.”

Ledecky will meet Titmus, 23, again in the 800 freestyle, the race Ledecky has won at the last three Olympic Games, including a victory over the silver-medal-winning Titmus in Tokyo three years ago. 

Ledecky was asked about their rivalry after Saturday’s race. Her reply was swift. 

“I wouldn’t consider it a rivalry. I think it’s a friendship if anything. We have a lot of respect for each other and we love competing against each other. It brings the best out of each of us. Competing against the best in the world is something special and something that we enjoy.”

A quirky moment occurred between the two just before they dove into the pool. Ledecky turned in the fastest time in the morning preliminaries, so she was announced last and was swimming in lane 4. Titmus came out next to last and was in lane 5 — except that she put her warmups and shoes in the bin at lane 4. 

Ledecky noticed immediately as she approached lane 4. 

“I had to tell her, you’re in lane 5,” Ledecky said. “I told her, ‘all good, all good,’ because she was freaking out. I didn’t want her to feel bad or anything.”

Then, as they came back out for the medal ceremony, Ledecky had a little fun with Titmus. “I joked with her before the medals, you’re getting a little comfortable there in lane 4.”

Ledecky smiled. “That was no big deal. I didn’t want either of us to get disqualified for swimming in the wrong lane. We got it taken care of.”