Katie Ledecky has now won more individual world swimming titles than Michael Phelps. She won her 16th gold medal Saturday at the 2023 World Aquatic Championships.
In addition, Ledecky became the first swimmer to win six straight world championships in a single event. According to bookie pay per head sources, her 16th title came after winning the 800-meter freestyle event. Also, she defeated Li Bingjie by 4.44 seconds.
According to online bookie software experts, she holds the 800- and 1,500-meter world records and has won seven Olympic gold medals.
Katie Ledecky in the World Aquatic Championships
Ledecky won the 800 to add to the 1,500 freestyle gold she won on Tuesday. At the 400-meter freestyle event, she also medaled. Silver went to Li Bingjie of China in 8:13.31, and bronze to Ariarne Titmus of Australia in 8:13.59.
On day seven of eight in the pool, the United States won only its fourth gold medal. Australia, however, has tied its global record with 13 gold medals. On Saturday, Australia took home three more gold medals. According to sportsbook pay per head reports, the United States holds the most medals overall with 31, followed by Australia with 20 and China with 13.
Australian swimmer Kaylee McKeown created her piece of history by winning the women’s 200-meter backstroke. McKeown won the event, making it a clean sweep of the three backstroke events she competed in. McKeown made history by winning the world championship in all three backstroke events. Everything she did after that made up for her early disqualification in the 200 IM.
Peng Xuwei of China won bronze in 2:06.74, while Regan Smith of the United States took silver in 2:04.94. Sarah Sjöström of Sweden won the 50 butterfly to add to her string of victories. The 29-year-old athlete won with a timing of 24.77 seconds, making this his fifth straight world championship victory in the event. With this victory, Sjöström tied Phelps’ record of 20 world championship medals won by an individual athlete.
In a semi-final heat, Sjöström clocked a personal best time of 23.61 seconds in the 50 free. Before 2017, her best time was 23.67.
