Paris Olympics: Katie Ledecky becomes most-decorated American woman; USA adds four golds

Aug. 1 (UPI) -- Katie Ledecky earned a 13th medal to become the most-decorated American woman in Olympics history, while Team USA won gold four times through swimming, rowing, gymnastics and fencing events Thursday in Paris.

The Americans totaled seven podium visits on the day, increasing their overall total to 37, 10 more than second-place France. Gymnast Simone Biles and fencer Lee Kiefer were among the other U.S. athletes who set medal records through Thursday performances.

But it was Ledecky who set the new standard for female Olympians through her participation in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay at Paris La Defense Arena.

She teamed up with Claire Weinstein, Paige Madden and Erin Gemmell for a second-place finish, 2.78 seconds behind Australia, who set an Olympic record with a gold-medal swim. China placed third.

Ledecky also became the most decorated female Olympic swimmer in history with her relay team's finish.

On Wednesday, Ledecky dominated the 1,500-meter freestyle, her signature event, to tie swimmers Jenny Thompson, Dara Torres and Natalie Coughlin for the previous record of most medals (12) ever won by an American female athlete. Ledecky won her first medal in Paris with a bronze-medal swim in the 400-meter freestyle.

Rowers Nick Mead, Justin Best, Michael Grady and Liam Corrigan teamed up to win the first U.S. medal of the day, winning the men's four finals with a time of 5:49.03. New Zealand and Great Britain earned respective silver and bronze medals in that event, which resulted in the first American medal in rowing since 2016.

The gold medal also was the first won in the men's four since the 1960 Olympics in Rome.

"I'm just glad to be able to stand here today and show that dreams can be accomplished," Best told NBC. "You just have to put your mind to it. You have to have that willingness to go deep, well beyond anyone's expectations of you. Crossing that finish line, I was just bawling my eyes out."

Biles and fellow gymnast Suni Lee went on to win two more medals for Team USA in the women's singles all-around final. Lee, who won the event at Tokyo 2020, earned bronze. Brazil's Rebeca Andrade won a silver medal in the event.

Biles became the first American to win two all-around titles. She also became the first American gymnast to win six gold medals, including her gold from Tuesday's women's team final.

Kiefer teamed up with fellow fencers Lauren Scruggs, Maia Mei Wintraub and Jacqueline Dubrovich to beat Italy 45-39 in the women's foil team gold medal match.

With that victory, Kiefer became the first American fencer to win three Olympic gold medals.

Regan Smith started Thursday's run of Team USA swimming medals with a second-place finish in the women's 200-meter butterfly final. Canada's Summer McIntosh won that event. China's Zhang Yufei placed third.

GOLDEN

Kate Douglass wins her first Olympic gold medal in the 200m breaststroke!

: @NBCOlympics & @peacock #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/pFF3gKBjtR — Team USA (@TeamUSA) August 1, 2024

Kate Douglass won the fourth and final U.S. gold medal of the night, edging second-place Tatjana Smith of South Africa and third-place Tes Schouten of the Netherlands in the women's 200-meter breaststroke final.

Ledecky, Weinstein, Madden and Gemmell then jumped into the pool for the final U.S. medal of the day, finishing behind Australia for a silver medal in the women's 4x200-meter freestyle relay final. China placed third. Australia swam an Olympic-record time of 7:38.08 to claim gold.

Team USA stayed within the Top 3 through the first 400-meters of the race, trigger Ledecky to jump into the pool for a torrid third leg. She briefly closed the gap on Australia by the end of her swim. Australian star Ariarne Titmus then out-swam Gemmell over the final 200 meters to clinch gold.

Team USA surges past New Zealand for GOLD in men's four rowing! #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/tCQm7Rk52z — NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 1, 2024

In non-medal events, Breanna Stewart recorded 26 points, seven rebounds and four assists to lead the U.S. women's basketball team to an 87-74 victory over Belgium in Group C. A'ja Wilson chipped in 23 points and 13 rebounds for Team USA.

The Americans will take on Germany on Sunday in their group-stage finale.

Americans Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram beat Tomas Machac and Adam Pavlasek in a men's doubles tennis semifinal. They will take on fellow Americans Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul or Australians Matthew Ebden and John Peers in the finale Saturday at Roland Garros .

Fritz and Paul beat Great Britain's Andy Murray and Daniel Evans in a quarterfinal Thursday in Paris.

American Tommy Paul, the No. 13 player in the world, lost to No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain in a singles quarterfinal Thursday at Roland Garros. He was the last American left in the men's or women's tennis tournaments.

In golf, Japan's Hideki Matsuyama fired an 8-under-par 63 over his first 18 holes to take the early lead in the men's tournament. Team USA's Xander Schauffele, the defending Olympic champion, was 6-under and sits in second place.

Fellow American Scottie Scheffler fired a 4-under 67 and is tied for sixth. Team USA's Collin Morikawa (1-under) and Wyndham Clark (+4) are tied for 29th and 56th, respectively.