Becoming an multi-Olympic gold medalist in any discipline is difficult, but Team USA swimmer Katie Ledecky had a particularly challenging journey due to an unforeseen health condition.
Katie Ledecky has quite the reputation. Following continued success at the ongoing Paris 2024 Olympics, she has become the most decorated US female Olympian of all time with 14 medals - four of which from Paris this year.
To top it all off, she is the first woman to win four (yep, count them... FOUR) Olympic golds in the same event - the 800m freestyle.
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But before she was able to sit claim this massive Olympic feat of her own she had to deal with an overcome her own health issues.
In her recent memoir, Just Add Water, the swimmer spoke about how she came to realize there was a problem, and how she triumphantly overcame it.
Back in 2015 at the World Aquatics Championships in Kazan, Russia, Ledecky realized something was wrong.
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In her book, she said she felt 'extremely hot and lightheaded' at a team dinner following her final race, but chalked it up to being exhausted.
She continued to ignore the issues but said it began to worry her.
She said: “I was swimming okay. But I was super inconsistent. I would have a couple of good practices, and then I would have a day or two when I had absolutely no energy.
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"Some days I couldn’t walk around without dizziness.
“Every swimmer has peaks and valleys in training, but to be so strung out? My desire to work hard was there. I just had no juice. I kept wondering, Am I sick. And if so, with what?”
After eventually getting tested, she found out what the issue was - she was diagnosed with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS).
This condition sees a person's heart rate increase very quickly after getting up from sitting or lying down, resulting in lightheadedness and fatigue.
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Despite finally knowing what the issue was, in her book she explained why she didn’t publicly disclose it.
She said: “I didn’t want something quote/unquote ‘wrong’ with me to become the narrative around Rio or Team USA.
“I wasn’t eager to become a distraction or to be distracted myself. I simply wanted to treat my condition as best I could and get back to going hard in the pool. Gradually, following doctor’s orders, I started feeling better.”
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Thankfully, having a greater understanding of her illness allowed the swimmer to still compete at the highest level and bring home the gold more than a few times.
Team USA's current medal count - 86
Gold medalists
- Lee Kiefer: Fencing - Women's individual foil
- Torri Huske: Swimming - Women's 100m butterfly
- Jack Alexj, Chris Guiliano, Hunter Armstrong, Caeleb Dressel, Ryan Held, Matt King: Swimming - Men's 4x100m freestyle
- Simone Biles, Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey, Hezly Rivera: Artistic Gymnastics - Women's team competition
- Katie Ledecky: Swimming - Women's 1500m freestyle
- Nick Mead, Justin Best, Michael Grady and Liam Corrigan: Rowing - Men's coxless four
- Jacqueline Dubrovich, Lee Kiefer, Lauren Scruggs, Maia Mei Weintraub - Fencing: Women's foil team
- Simone Biles: Artistic Gymnastics - Women's individual all-around
- Kate Douglass: Swimming - Women's 200m breaststroke
- Simone Biles: Artistic Gymnastics - Women's vault
- Vincent Hancock: Shooting - Men's skeet
- Ryan Crouser: Athletics - Men's shot put
- Katie Ledecky: Swimming - Women's 800m freestyle
- Nic Fink, Torri Huske, Ryan Murphy, Gretchen Walsh: Swimming - Mixed 4x100m medley relay
- Bobby Finke: Swimming - Men's 1500m freestyle
- Kristen Faulkner: Cycling - Women's road race
- Scottie Scheffler: Golf - Men's individual stroke play
- Noah Lyles: Athletics - Men's 100m
- Regan Smith, Lilly King, Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske: Swimming - Women's 4x100m medley relay
- Valarie Allman: Athletics - Women's discus throw
- Caroline Marks: Surfing - Women's Shortboard
- Cole Hocker: Track and field - Men's 1500m
- Gabby Thomas: Track and field - Women's 200m
- Amit Elor: Wrestling - Women's freestyle 68kg
Silver medalists
- Nic Fink: Swimming - Men's 100m breaststroke
- Lauren Scruggs: Fencing - Women's individual foil
- Gretchen Walsh: Swimming - Women's 100m butterfly
- Haley Batten: Mountain Bike - Women's cross country
- Kate Douglass, Gretchen Walsh. Torri Huske, Simone Manuel, Erika Connolly, Abbey Weitzel: Swimming - Women's 4x100m freestyle
- Sarah Bacon and Kassidy Cook: Diving - Women's springboard 3m synchronised
- Katie Grimes: Swimming - Women's 400m individual medley
- Jagger Eaton: Skateboarding - Men's street
- Regan Smith: Swimming - Women's 100m backstroke
- Bobby Finke: Swimming - Men's 800m freestyle
- Carson Foster, Brooks Curry, Chris Guiliano, Luke Hobson, Drew Kibler, Blake Pieroni, Kieran Smith: Swimming - Men, 4x200m freestyle
- Perris Benegas: Cycling - Women's BMX freestyle
- Torri Huske: Swimming - Women's 100m freestyle
- Regan Smith: Swimming - Women's 200m butterfly
- Erin Gemell, Katie Ledecky, Paige Madden, Simone Manuel, Anna Peplowski, Alex Shackell, Claire Weinstein: Swimming - Women's 4x200m freestyle
- Karl Cook, Laura Kraut, McLain Ward: Equestrian - Jumping team
- Sagen Maddalena: Shooting - Women, 50m rifle 3 positions
- Regan Smith: Swimming - Women's 200m backstroke
- Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram: Tennis - Men's doubles
- Conner Prince: Shooting - Men's skeet
- Joe Kovacs: Athletics - Men's shot put
- Kaylyn Brown, Bryce Deadmon, Shamier Little, Vernon Norwood: Athletics - 4x400m relay mixed
- Sha'Carri Richardson: Athletics - Women's 100m
- Kate Douglass: Swimming - Women's 200m individual medley
- Brady Ellison: Archery: Men's individual
- Hunter Armstrong, Caeleb Dressel, Nic Fink, Ryan Murphy: Swimming - Men's 4x100m medley relay
- Seth Rider, Taylor Spivey, Morgan Pearson and Taylor Knibb: Triathlon - Mixed relay
- Simone Biles: Artistic Gymnastics - Women's floor exercise
- Sam Kendricks: Athletics - Men's pole vault
- Vincent Hancock and Jewell Austen Smith: Shooting - Mixed team skeet
- Annette Nneka Echikunwoke: Track and field - Women's hammer throw
Bronze medalists
- Carson Foster: Swimming - Men's 400m individual medley
- Katie Ledecky: Swimming - Women's 400m freestyle
- Chloe Dygert: Cycling - Women's individual time trial
- Frederick Richard, Brody Malone, Stephen Nedoroscik, Paul Juda, Asher Hong: Artistic Gymnastics - Men's team competition
- Nick Itkin: Fencing - Men's foil individual
- Emma Weyant: Swimming - Women's 400m individual medley
- Ryan Murphy: Swimming - Men's 100m backstroke
- Luke Hobson: Swimming - Men's 200m freestyle
- Nyjah Huston: Skateboarding - Men's street
- Ilona Maher, Kayla Canett, Lauren Doyle, Alev Kelter, Kristi Kirshe, Sarah Levy, Alena Olsen, Ariana Ramsey, Steph Rovetti, Alex Sedrick, Sammy Sullivan, Naya Tapper: Rugby 7s - Women's team competition
- Katharine Berkoff: Swimming - Women's 100m backstroke
- Evy Leibfarth: Canoe slalom - Women's Canoe Single
- Suni Lee: Artistic Gymnastics - Women's individual all-around
- Casey Kaufhold, Brady Ellison: Archery - Mixed Team
- Grant Fisher: Athletics - Men's 10,000m
- Ian Barrows and Hans Henken: Sailing - Men's skiff
- Henry Hollingsworth, Nick Rusher, Christian Tabash, Clark Dean, Chris Carlson, Peter Chatain, Evan Olson, Pieter Quinton: Rowing - Men's eight
- Stephen Nedoroscik: Gymnastics - Men's pommel horse
- Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul: Tennis - Men's doubles
- Jade Carey: Artistic Gymnastics - Women's vault
- Jasmine Moore: Athletics - Women's triple jump
- Melissa Jefferson: Athletics - Women's 100m
- Paige Madden: Swimming - Women's 800m freestyle
- Suni Lee: Artistic Gymnastics - Women's uneven bars
- Austen Jewell Smith: Shooting - Women's skeet
- Fred Kerley: Athletics - Men's 100m
- Jordan Chiles: Artistic Gymnastics - Women's floor exercise
- Cierra Burdick, Dearica Hamby, Rhyne Howard, Hailey van Lith: 3x3 basketball - Women's competition
- Yared Nuguse: Track and field: Men's 1500m
- Brittany Brown: Track and field - Women's 200m
- Omari Jones: Boxing - Men's 71kg
Gerrard Kaonga