Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky is among 19 people to be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday, according to a White House announcement.
Ledecky, 27, is one of the most decorated swimmers in U.S. history. She has won her seven Olympic gold medals in her three Olympic appearances, including six individual gold medals, the most ever by a female swimmer. And she is favored to add to her total at the 2024 Paris Olympics, which begin on July 26.
Ledecky has also won a whopping 21 medals at the world championships and currently holds two world records in the 800-meter and 1,500-meter freestyle events.
Ledecky, a Maryland native who swam at Stanford University and now trains at the University of Florida, is on the list of Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients, along with another Olympic champion, the late Jim Thorpe.
Thorpe won both the pentathlon and decathlon at the 1912 Stockholm Games, becoming the first Native American to win an Olympic gold medal. However, he was stripped of his medal the following year after the American Athletic Association, the predecessor of today's national governing body, the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, ruled that he had violated amateurism rules.
It was only a few years ago, in 2022, that the International Olympic Committee reversed course and officially began recognizing Thorpe as the sole Olympic champion in those two events.
Thorpe, who died in 1953, was also active on the football field, and was one of the most influential players during the sport's rapid growth in the United States. He is a member of both the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame.
Ledecky and Thorpe are the latest athletes to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. The White House says the award is given to U.S. citizens who have “made exemplary contributions to American prosperity, values, security, world peace, or other important social, public, or private endeavors.” said.
President Biden presented the same award in 2022 to Olympic gymnast Simone Biles and U.S. women's soccer player Megan Rapinoe, while former President Donald Trump gave the same award to golfer Tiger Woods and baseball icon The award was presented to more than a dozen athletes and sports figures, including one Babe Ruth. and legendary NBA player and executive Jerry West.
Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on social media @Tom_Schad.
