30 American athletes to watch at the 2024 Paris Olympics

2. Katie Ledecky
Swimming

Katie Ledecky is looking to solidify a legacy. There are few athletes in this world that are as good at anything as Katie Ledecky is at swimming. She is as dominant as they come, winning seven gold medals in her Olympic career. She’s only 27 years old, so one can assume she has more Olympics left in her after Paris. 

This year, she’s looking to win four medals. Ledecky's hoping to compete in 400m, 800m, and 1500m freestyle individual events and the 4x200m relay. Ledecky is the reigning champ in the 800m and 1500m, and she got silver in the other two events in Tokyo. 

Fourteen athletes have won more than seven gold medals in their career. If Ledecky wins one gold medal, that number becomes five. If she wins two, that number becomes one. The only athlete in the history of the Olympics who has won double-digit gold medals in this event’s history is Michael Phelps. If Ledecky wins at least three golds in Paris, she will stand alone as the only woman ever to have double-digit golds. 

This puts her in a league of her own. She’s already one of the greatest swimmers in Olympic history, but two wins put her in a new conversation. This is the Serena Williams, Jackie Joyner-Kersee tier. This is Mia Hamm and Amanda Nunes. She will be adored for generations and looked upon as a pillar for female athletics. There is a lot on the line for Ledecky, and frankly, it’s also on the line for…