Katie Ledecky gold medals: Swimmer passes Michael Phelps for most individual world titles in history

Katie Ledecky has made history, again.

The 26-year-old swimmer brought home her 22nd career individual gold medal with ease at the 2023 World Aquatic Championships in Fukuoka, Japan on Saturday. She now has 16 World Championship gold medals on top of six Olympic golds.

She decisively won the 800-meter freestyle event in Japan with a time of 8:08.87 — only 4.08 seconds off from her actively standing world record of 8:04.79 that she set at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

With her latest individual World Championship win, Ledecky also boosted herself above Michael Phelps' long-standing record: She now has 16 individual golds on the world championship stage, compared to Phelps' 15. She tied his career mark earlier at the 2023 World Aquatic Championships when she took home the 1500-meter freestyle event.

MORE: Katie Ledecky's Olympics timeline

Said Ledecky of the feat, per ESPN:

I'm just always trying to think of new ways to improve. I mean, I've already got everything turning in my head right now. I kind of wanted to be better than I was tonight. I'm pretty tough on myself, but I think I have found the balance of being tough on myself but also having that grace.

Ledecky is only six individual gold medals away from beating Phelps' overall record of 28, as well. Here's what you need to know about the heavily decorated, almost-mermaid:

How many individual golds does Katie Ledecky have?

In her 11-year career, Ledecky has earned a total of 22 individual titles: six from Olympic Games and 16 from World Championships.

Her most recent was at the 2023 World Aquatic Championships in Fukuoka, Japan. She won the 800-meter freestyle with a time of 8:08.87, beating runner-up Li Bingjie by 4.34 seconds. She also won the 1500-meter freestyle with a time of 15.26.27, beating Italy's Simona Quadarella (15:43.31).

She also finished second in the 400-meter freestyle, finishing behind Australia's Ariarne Titmus, who set the world record in the event with a time of 3:55.38.

The top three title leaders in women's competitive swimming are all still active. Ledecky's record is (not closely) followed by Hungary's 34-year-old Katinka Hosszu, who has 12 total. Sweden's 29-year-old Sarah Sjostrom is third, with 11 total titles.

MORE: How do the Olympic swimming GOATs stack up?

Katie Ledecky vs. Michael Phelps individual gold medals

Ledecky is marked as the second all-time title-holder in competitive swimming history, trailing retired icon Michael Phelps' 28 individually earned golds. Though she has the edge in World Championship golds by one, Phelps has seven more Olympic golds, giving him a 28-22 edge.

Here is a list of where exactly each of their individual golds have come from (excludes gold medals as part of relay events):

Katie Ledecky

Olympic Games

• 2012 London: 1
• 2016 Rio de Janeiro: 3
• 2020 Tokyo: 2

World Championships

• 2013 Barcelona: 3
• 2015 Kazan: 4
• 2017 Budapest: 3
• 2019 Gwangju: 1
• 2022 Budapest 3
• 2023 Fukuoka: 2

Michael Phelps

Olympic Games

• 2004 Athens: 4
• 2008 Beijing: 5
• 2012 London: 2
• 2016 Rio: 2

World Championships

• 2001 Fukuoka: 1
• 2003 Barcelona: 3
• 2005 Montreal: 2
• 2007 Melbourne: 5
• 2009 Rome: 2
• 2011 Shanghai: 2

Katie Ledecky world records

Ledecky holds four current world records: The 800- and 1500-meter freestyle events, on both the long and short course. But her dominance extends beyond even that: She has set 16 different world record paces in those events and the 400-meter freestyle.

Here is a breakdown of her current world records, including where she set them.

Long course

Short course

* Consisted of three separate meets in Berlin, Toronto and Indianapolis