Bay Area Olympians: Stanford alum Katie Ledecky wins record 13th swimming medal

Katie Ledecky has finished first a staggering eight times during her illustrious Olympic career, but it was a silver medal on Thursday that cemented the swimmer’s place as the greatest American female Olympian of all-time.

After helping the United States take second place in the 4×200 relay, the Stanford alum collected her 13th Olympic medal, breaking a tie with Jenny Thompson, Dara Torres and Natalie Coughlin.

Australia won gold after swimming the race in a record 7:38.08. 

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Claire Weinstein led off the race for the U.S. by swimming her leg in 1:54.88. Paige Madden did hers in 1:55.65, and then Ledecky closed the gap with Australia after she swam in 1:54.49 before Erin Gemmel finished the race in 1:55.40.

The U.S. completed the race in 7:40.86.

Ledecky’s eight gold medals are tied for the most by an American woman with Thompson. 

The Bethesda, Maryland native has a chance to break the record on Saturday. Ledecky will compete in the 800 free, an event she has historically dominated. 

Ledecky owns 29 of the 30 fastest times in the event.

After winning the 1,500 freestyle in dominant fashion on Wednesday, Ledecky told reporters that she tries not to think about history too much.

“I know those names, those people I’m up with,” Ledecky said. “They’re people I looked up to when I first started swimming. So it’s an honor to be named among them. I’m grateful for them inspiring me. There are so many great swimmers that have helped me get to this moment.”

Kohler to row for gold in single scull

Clayton native Kara Kohler qualified for Saturday’s A final in the women’s single scull after she placed third her semifinal with a time of 7:22.33.

The veteran rower will have a chance to add to her Olympic medal collection for the first time since 2012, when Kohler captured bronze in the quadruple sculls in London. 

Kohler finished just five seconds off the leader in the semifinals, with New Zealand’s Emma Twigg pacing the field with a time of 7:17.19.

Eight years ago, Kohler almost gave up the sport after being left off the 2016 team that went to Brazil. 

But thanks to her friendship with then-high school student Jack Woll, Kohler rediscovered her love of the sport as she mentored the young man. 

She later competed in the 2021 Toyko Olympics, and now the Cal alum has a chance to medal for the first time in over a decade. 

Morikawa in the golfing middle

Cal alum Collin Morikawa is squarely in the middle of the pack after the first day of play in the men’s golf event. 

Morikawa, who finished in a seven-way tie for third place at the Tokyo Olympics but missed out on a bronze medal in a playoff, shot 1-under 70 in the first round in Paris, tying him for 29th out of 59 spots.

The 27-year-old has some ground to make up but plenty of time to do it.

Japanese golfer Hideki Matsuyama is at the top of the leaderboard after shooting 8-under 63, and Morikawa’s American teammate Xander Schauffele is second, two shots behind.

Morikawa had two birdies and one bogey on the first day of competition. 

Olympic golf has no cut, with all 60 competitors playing 72 holes over four days. 

Walnut Creek’s Ionescu, Team USA avoid Belgium’s upset bid

Playing what was a de facto home game for Belgium, the U.S. women’s basketball team held off several spirited runs to prevail, 87-74, and clinch a spot in the quarterfinals.

Walnut Creek native Sabrina Ionescu had six points in 19 minutes off the bench, but more importantly, the Miramonte High School alum provided a steady presence at point guard and dished out a team-high five assists.

Team USA’s A’ja Wilson led all scorers with 23 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, and Breanna Stewart poured in 26 points. Both made a number of difficult jump shots in isolation.

Emma Meesseman, who plays for the Chicago Sky in the WNBA, scored a team-high 24 points as Belgium gave the U.S. everything it could handle.

The teams were tied 23-23 after one quarter, and the overwhelming favorites only started to play better once Ionescu and Alyssa Thomas came off the bench to provide a spark.

The U.S. led 46-38 at halftime, and although Belgium was able to hang around, Wilson and Co. ended up winning somewhat comfortably. The Americans will try to make it 58 victories in a row when they take on Germany on Saturday in the last group stage game.

Jha’s historic run comes to an end

Milpitas’ Kanak Jha’s quest for his first Olympic medal ended in the Round of 16 on Thursday morning. Jha, 24, was the first American man to advance that far in Olympic competition. 

Jha was denied a trip to the quarterfinals after he lost to China’s Fan Zhengdong 4-0.

The Milpitas native used GoFundMe to help pay for training and the trip to Paris.

USA rowing champs have Oakland connection

Nick Mead, Justin Best, Michael Grady and Liam Corrigan powered past New Zealand to win the USA’s first gold medal in the men’s four rowing event since 1960.

“It’s literally unbelievable,” Corrigan told the Associated Press. “I crossed the line, I thought I was going to have some kind of celebration, but I was just in disbelief, like my hands were on my head. It was just crazy.”

Team USA took first place with a time of 5:49:03, edging New Zealand by 0.85 seconds.

Gradu, Best. and Corrigan trained in Oakland to prepare for the Olympics.  

“It’s really an emotional moment to be able to represent the USA on the highest stage and walk away in the most successful position,” Grady, who works for a San Francisco tech company, told USA Today. “Not a lot of people can say that.”

Men’s water polo rally comes up short

High-level performances by several Bay Area standouts were not enough to stop the USA from falling to reigning silver medalists Greece 13-11, the U.S.’s second loss in three group stage games. 

Stanford alum Alex Bowen scored twice, and former Cal goalkeeper Adrian Weinberg had eight saves and scored the first Olympic goal of his career. 

The teams were tied at 4-4 after one period and the USA led 7-6 at halftime. But Greece scored three goals in a row to end the third to take an 11-9 advantage into the fourth period. 

The USA will play its next match against Montenegro on Saturday.

Youngest swimmer at 200m backstroke finishes fifth

Nineteen-year-old Keaton Jones of Team USA performed admirably in the 200 backstroke final, with the Cal swimmer finishing fifth in 1.55.39.

Meanwhile, former Cal swimmer Hugo Gonzalez, competing for Spain, came in sixth in 1.55.47. 

Jones overcame a bout with mononucleosis six months ago, an illness that threatened to ruin his Olympic plans. 

“It derailed him, but I told him, ‘Even before mono you were doing some incredible stuff,’” Cal coach Dave Durden told the Bay Area News Group before the Olympics.