"I fail spectacularly in practice" - When Katie Ledecky opened up about her coach's words that help her to push herself

Katie Ledecky once opened up on her coach, Anthony Nesty's words, that helped her achieve perfection in her sport. So far Ledecky has enjoyed an illustrious swimming career by having clinched 14 Olympic and 26 World Championships medals. She bagged her first Olympic medal in the 800m at the 2012 London Games. Three summers following her Olympic debut, Ledecky went on to win five medals at the Rio edition.

She continued her dominance at the Tokyo Games by winning two gold and two silver medals. In an interview with forbes.com, around the Tokyo Games, Ledecky had opened up on her approach towards training, stating that she chased failure instead of being ashamed during her practices. Elaborating on the thought, she highlighted her coach Nesty's mindset, which reminded her to push herself to her limit without worrying about making mistakes or not being able to conquer her goals.

“Each day I work on getting better, and even the bad days have something good that comes out of them,” Ledecky said. “One thing my coaches say is that I fail spectacularly in practice —and that’s something that I actually work toward.”

At her latest Olympic appearance during the 2024 Paris Games, Ledecky won two gold medals as well as silver and a bronze medal.

"Not letting this opportunity go to waste" - Katie Ledecky expresses her joy after recording 800m freestyle world record

Katie Ledecky at the TYR Pro Swim Series in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (Photo by Getty Images)

Katie Ledecky recently solidified her legendary prospect, by setting a new world record in the women's 800m freestyle event, at the TYR Pro Swim Series which took place from Wednesday, April 30 to Saturday, May 3, 2025, at the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Center in Florida. She posted a stunning time of 8:04.12. Following the history-making feat, the American swimmer expressed her joy.

"I can’t stop smiling, it's been like that all week though, so it’s not really new," she said of her new world record. "It’s been so many years in the making to do it tonight. It’s been an incredible night. There is always a story to each world record that I set."

"The crowd was amazing tonight; I couldn’t have done it without that. I flipped at the 750, and it was loud in here, and I just told myself I’m not letting this opportunity go to waste and started sprinting.” (via people.com)

She bettered her previous world record of 8:04.79 which she clocked at the 2016 Olympic Games held in Rio.