Summer Olympics: Katie Ledecky wins first heat, to compete for first gold medal Saturday afternoon
Ledecky is two gold medals shy of matching the record for most gold medals ever won by a female Olympian.
Katie Ledecky is off to a roaring start in Paris.
Ledecky, who entered the Summer Olympics with six gold medals, one shy of tying Jenny Thompson for most ever by a female swimmer and two shy of matching the all-time record for gold medals by a female Olympian, kicked off her campaign on Saturday morning with a first-place performance in the women’s 400-meter freestyle heat.
Ledecky, a multi-time national champion while she was at Stanford, won her preliminary heat with a 4:02.19 time that narrowly topped her rival, Australia’s Ariarne Titmus, who had a 4:02.46. Canada’s Summer McIntosh, a rising star in the sport, was fourth with 4:02.65.
The finals will take place Saturday at noon as Ledecky will get her first chance to medal at these Olympics.
She’s gone back and forth with Titmus over the years. While Ledecky has the Olympic record in the 400-meter freestyle with a 3:56.46, set at the 2016 Games, Titmus took home the gold in Tokyo and currently holds the world record with a 3:55.38.
Saturday, Stanford junior Torri Huske also had a nice start in the pool, winning her heat in the 100-meter butterfly with a 57.72 to qualify for the semifinals. Her time was third-best of the 32 competitors.
Gymnastics begins
The United States men’s gymnastics team got off to a great start at the Paris Olympics early Saturday morning, but they did it despite a disappointing performance from one of their best competitors.
Brody Malone, a multi-time national champion at Stanford before he graduated last year, had an uncharacteristically poor showing as he began his competition with a fall in the pommel horse, then ended it with a slip in his floor exercise.
The only returning member of the men’s team that represented Team USA in Tokyo, Malone finished third among five U.S. athletes on the day, eliminating him from contention in all individual events.
Malone had been coming off knee surgery that kept him out for much of the 2023 season, but he returned to Olympic trials in June and had a commanding performance, earning him a qualification for Paris. But after a rough start Saturday, he’ll have to make his mark in the team competition.
The men’s team looks poised to advance to the team finals on Monday morning after a strong performance overall.
The men finished in second place out of eight teams in their subdivision, just behind Great Britain. There are three subdivisions, with the top eight teams in total advancing to the finals.
Stanford sophomore Asher Hong is one of the men who performed well, as the Texas native finished his subdivision No. 3 on still rings (14.633), No. 5 on vault (14.566) and No. 6 on floor exercise (14.100). By mid-morning, he had been pushed out of contention for vault and floor, but remained in contention for the rings final.
Simone Biles and the women’s team begin Sunday at 2:30 a.m. PT
Kohler wins rowing heat
Clayton’s Kara Kohler made an instant impression in Paris on Saturday morning.
Trying to become the first American woman ever to win a gold medal in the single sculls, Kohler won her heat with a 7:32.46 time to qualify for the quarterfinals, which take place early Sunday morning. Her time was the third-best among the 30 competitors.
She got off the line slowly, but passed Austria’s Magdalena Lobnig in the back half of the race to pull away with a 6.93-second victory.
“It’s definitely a confidence boost, so I wanted to go out and have a solid race to have some confidence moving forward,” Kohler told U.S. Rowing. “It’s definitely good to let her rip out there. Each race is going to be more intense with a lot more on the line, so I think staying present and remembering how to row with all the excitement and adrenaline is the big thing.”
Three other U.S. crews advanced in the first day of rowing competitions.
Water polo kicks off gold medal pursuit
The United States’ women’s water polo team got off to a wonderful start as the women chase their Olympic record fourth consecutive gold medal.
In a 15-6 win over Greece, San Jose native and Stanford sophomore Jenna Flynn led the women with four goals while Monte Vista High graduate and Stanford legend Maggie Steffens added two goals. Steffens is the all-time leading scorer at the Olympics.
Badminton team stumbles
Bay Area natives Vinson Chiu of Milpitas and Jennie Gai of Fremont lost their round of group play representing Team USA in badminton. They fell to China, 2-0. The U.S. has never medaled in Olympic badminton.