Katie Ledecky ties gold medal record; France cuts into U.S. Olympic lead

July 31 (UPI) -- Swimmer Katie Ledecky tied the mark for the most Olympic gold medals won -- eight -- by a U.S. female athlete, erasing her foes in her signature event -- the 1,500-meter freestyle Wednesday in Paris.

"I'm so honored to represent our country," Ledecky told NBC. "Those women have set the standard for so many years. They inspired me when I started swimming."

Ledecky's medal was one of four won Wednesday by the Americans, who still lead the medals table with 30 overall. France, which entered the day in second place -- eight medals behind the United States -- earned eight Wednesday to close the gap.

Ledecky's victory was her 37th-consecutive in the 1,500-meter freestyle. The world-record holder in the event set a new Olympic record with a time of 15:30.02, beating her former mark by nearly 5 seconds.

She beat second place Anastasiia Kirpichnikova of France by more than 10 seconds. Germany's Isabel Gose placed third.

Ledecky also earned her 12th overall Olympic medal, which is tied with Jenny Thompson, Dara Torres and Natalie Coughlin for the most ever won by an American female athlete.

Her eight gold medals -- from seven individual events and one team event -- are tied with Thompson and German Birgit Fischer for the second-most ever won by a female Olympian, trailing only Larisa Latynina of the Soviet Union with nine.

Earlier Wednesday, Perris Benegas won the first medal of the day for Team USA. She finished second in the BMX freestyle women's park final. Yawen Deng of China won that event. Australia's Natalya Diehm placed third.

Evy Leibfarth earned a bronze for the Americans in the women's canoe slalom single final. Australian Jessica Fox won that event. German Elena Lilik won a silver medal.

Torri Huske won the first American swimming medal of the night, placing second in the women's 100-meter freestyle final. She trailed winner Sarah Sjoestroem of Sweden by just 0.13. Hong Kong's Siobhan Bernadette placed third.

That medal gave Huske three so far in Paris. She earned gold in the 100-meter butterfly and silver in the 4x100-meter medley relay.

Ledecky has won her second medal of Paris 2024 , following a bronze in the 400-meter freestyle -- her signature event.

In non-medal action, the United States Women's National Team won Group B of their soccer tournament with a 2-1 win over Australia.

Team USA also crushed South Sudan 103-86 in a Group C men's basketball game Wednesday in Villeneuve-d'Ascq. The Americans are now 2-0 in the basketball tournament.