Katie Ledecky Breaks Michael Phelps' Solo Gold Medals Record at World Championships | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

Katie Ledecky won her 16th individual gold medal Saturday, surpassing Michael Phelps for the most in swimming history.

Ledecky claimed the record win with a 8:08.87 finish in the women's 800-meter freestyle at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan.

She is the first swimmer in history to win six straight world titles in the same event.

Ledecky, who surpassed Phelps' 15 worlds golds with the win, said it was "an honor to even be in that same sentence" as the 23-time Olympic Gold medalist.

Both she and Phelps grew up in Maryland, and Ledecky said earlier this week that she "looked up to him as a little kid."

"I'm going to keep going and hopefully win more medals for Team USA," Ledecky said, per Olympics.com's Shintaro Kano.

Ledecky finished 4.44 seconds ahead of silver medalist Li Bingjie of China and just over four seconds shy of the world record she set in the 800 free at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

The event marks Ledecky's second gold of the 2023 worlds. She also won the 1,500-meter freestyle Tuesday in 15:26.27 to tie Phelps' record of 15 individual golds.

Ledecky will have the chance to continue making swimming history during the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

Currently a seven-time Olympic gold medalist, Ledecky needs two more golds to tie with four other athletes for second-most in the history of the Games. Phelps holds the record with 23.