Team USA swimmer Katie Ledecky stole the show on Wednesday in the Women’s 1500-meter freestyle final, winning her eighth career gold medal and 12th total Olympic medal. And as you may expect, many networks reported on the event. And pretty much every network did so more accurately than ESPN.
ESPN posted on X numerous times about Ledecky’s victory, one of which comparing the number of medals that she has won to Michael Phelps, the athlete with the most medals in the history of the Olympics.
The only problem is that ESPN incorrectly stated in the post that Phelps had 23 career medals.
KATIE LEDECKY WINS THE 1500M FREESTYLE 🥇
She ties the 2nd-most medals earned by any swimmer in Olympic history (12), only Michael Phelps has more (23). pic.twitter.com/bF3dh7f1JI
— ESPN (@espn) July 31, 2024
Phelps actually has 28 total Olympic medals, 23 of which were gold medals which is probably where ESPN made the mistake.
The mistake was picked up by those who saw the post on X, which promptly led to the post getting a context warning with the correct information below it on the site.
Phelps has 28 total medals. 23 is how many golds he has. (This does not in any way detract from what Ledecky has accomplished).
— Dagoth Urlon Musk 🥥🌴 (@maruhkati) July 31, 2024
Phelps has 28, 23 gold
— MJB Burner (@MJBeauchampions) July 31, 2024
Still, Ledecky’s legacy as one of the best distance swimmers in the history of the Olympics certainly seems to be solidified. Especially when you consider she owns the 20 fastest times recorded in the women’s 1500-meter freestyle, with this most recent time of 15:30:02 being just her eighth fastest time.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.