Katie Ledecky wins her 1st gold in Paris Games, sets record [Video]

On a night when Léon Marchand was attempting an audacious double, Katie Ledecky proved again she’s a sure bet in swimming’s longest event.Ledecky romped to the seventh Olympic gold medal of her brilliant career and 12th medal overall with a runaway victory in the 1,500-meter freestyle Wednesday at the Paris Games.Related video above: Why Katie Ledecky was not present at the opening ceremonyThe 27-year-old Ledecky tied fellow Americans Dara Torres, Natalie Coughlin and Jenny Thompson for the most medals ever by a female swimmer. Ledecky already held the mark for most individual medals by a woman.Ledecky led right from the start and steadily pulled away, touching in an Olympic-record 15 minutes, 30.02 seconds in an event that joined the women’s program at the Tokyo Games in 2021.This was similar to the race three years ago: Ledecky was far in front and everyone else racing for a silver.France’s Anastasiia Kirpichinikova finished …