The 27-year-old swim star hit the wall in 8min 11.04sec, ahead of Australia's Ariarne Titmus (8:12.29) and fellow American Paige Madden (8:13.00).

It was Ledecky's 14th Olympic medal, the victory at La Defense Arena rewriting the history books yet again. Her ninth gold drew her level with Soviet-era artistic gymnast Larisa Latynina as the only women to collect that many titles. Now everyone is wondering whether the swim star plans to be at her home Olympics in 2028.

"I'd love to, we'll see, it's not easy. I’ll take it year by year and we'll see. Give it everything I got for as long as I have it left in me," she replied when being quizzed on her potential participation at LA28.

The greatest distance swimmer the sport has seen, she had already won the 1500m in Paris and earned silver in the 4x200m freestyle relay and bronze in the 400m freestyle. No other woman swimmer has won gold at four different Olympics.

Ledecky set off fast and was marginally ahead of Titmus at the first turn, with the Australian staying on her shoulder for 600m until the American started pulling clear. Madden made a late charge but Titmus managed to hold on for silver as Ledecky surged home.

"I knew Ariarne was going to give me everything she had," said Ledecky of the 400m champion, who also finished second in Tokyo. I felt confident coming into it, but it was going to be tough no matter what, all the way down to the finish, so I just had to stick in the race and trust myself, trust my training, that I know how to race that event. Just kind of relieved that I got my hand on my wall."

Titmus, who will leave Paris with two gold and two silver, said she had the utmost respect for her arch-rival. "I said to her after the race, she's made me a better athlete," said the Australian, who also won gold in the 4x200m relay and silver in the 200m freestyle.

"I totally respect her in this sport more than anyone else. She's been winning this race since I was 11 years old and I turn 24 next month. That is just remarkable. She's unreal," she added. "I'm feeling the most unbelievable sense of relief now that I'm done. I'm so proud of my efforts this week, two gold, two silver."

Ledecky has dominated distance swimming for more than a decade, winning her first gold medal aged 15 in the 800m free at the London Games in 2012. She repeated in Rio four years later, when her 800m triumph was part of a four-gold haul that included the 200m and 400m free. 

At the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics, Ledecky grabbed a third straight 800m free gold and won the 1500m free when it was added to the Olympic women's programme for the first time.