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The United States’ Two Olympic Powerhouses Are Having a Great Moment: NPR


Swimmer Katie Ledecky and gymnast Simone Biles had successful days at the Olympics in Paris.



SCOTT DETROW, HOST:

From French Olympic greatness to American greatness. Think about what you were doing in the summer of 2012, where you were in your life, where you were in your career. That was when 15-year-old Katie Ledecky burst onto the international swimming scene, beating the rest of the field to win gold in the grueling 800-meter freestyle. She did it again four years later in Rio, and then again at the eerily empty Tokyo Games. Ledecky has won medals in other events as well, and earlier in the Paris Games she became the most decorated female Olympic swimmer of all time.

This afternoon, she returned to the 800. And again, for the fourth straight Olympics, she won gold. Fifteen-year-old Katie Ledecky was the best in the world at it. And now, 12 years later, 27-year-old Katie Ledecky is still the best in the world at it. This comes just hours after gymnast Simone Biles won her third gold medal at the Paris Games, cementing the remarkable comeback she made after the mental health struggles she faced three years ago in Tokyo. Two GOATs, the greatest of all time in their fields, are working in Paris, two American Olympians are strengthening their case to be part of the torch when the Games come to the United States in four years.

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