Olympics swimming Day 8 results, highlights: Katie Ledecky, Summer McIntosh shine; USA sets mixed relay world record

On the penultimate day of swimming at the 2024 Olympics, the stars were in a position to shine. They did not disappoint. 

Team USA's Katie Ledecky and Canada's Summer McIntosh were the headliners entering the afternoon slate on Day 8 in Paris, and both walked away with gold medals in hand.

For the fourth consecutive Olympics, Ledecky found herself at the top of the podium in the women's 800-meter freestyle relay. The American star fought off a ferocious battle from Australia's Ariarne Titmus to win her second gold medal in 2024, and her ninth career Olympic gold medal.

Ledecky passed Jenny Thompson for the most career gold medals at the Olympics out of an American female. 

ONE OF ONE 🐐@katieledecky breaks the record for the most Olympic gold medals won by a woman in Team USA history. #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/oEtL2HtmX2

— Team USA (@TeamUSA) August 3, 2024

McIntosh earned gold medal No. 3, finishing first in the women's 200m individual medley. The 17-year-old has been as advertised at the Olympics, and she ends the individual competition with four total medals in hand. 

The United States ended the day in stellar fashion, as the mixed 4x100-meter medley relay team set a new world record in the event en route to a gold medal win. The quartet of Ryan Murphy, Nic Fink, Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske held off the team from China to finish first with the record-setting mark. 

In addition, there were the finals for the men's 100-meter butterfly and semifinals for the women's 50-meter freestyle. Who came out on top in those races?

The Sporting News has you covered on full updates, results and highlights from Day 8 of swimming at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

MORE: Watch Olympics swimming live with Fubo (free trial)

Olympic swimming results

2024 PARIS OLYMPICS
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(All times Eastern).

4:06 p.m.: The United States is the mixed 4x100 medley relay champions! Torri Huske finishes off an exceptional race by the Americans, who narrowly beat China by 0.12 seconds for the gold medal. The quartet of Ryan Murphy, Nic Fink, Gretchen Walsh and Huske deliver a world record time of 3:37.43. 

WHAT AN EFFORT.

TORRI HUSKE HOLDS ON FOR THE 4X100 MEDLEY RELAY GOLD AND WORLD RECORD! 👏#ParisOlympics | 📺 NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/bIxkbrGiN6

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 3, 2024

4:04 p.m.: The United States and China are neck-and-neck at the halfway point. Marchand helped France catch up to third. 

4:02 p.m.: The mixed relay is off. 

3:57 p.m.: The final swim event on Day 8 is the mixed 4x100-meter medley relay. For the United States, it is sending the group of Ryan Murphy, Nic Fink, Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske into the pool. The breakout star at the Olympics, Leon Marchand, is racing for France. 

3:50 p.m.: Ledecky's win is her second first-place finish in Paris and her ninth career Olympic gold medal, surpassing Jenny Thompson's mark for the most golds out of a female swimmer in the Olympics. 

3:40 p.m.: Katie Ledecky remains unstoppable in the 800-meter freestyle, claiming the gold medal for the fourth consecutive Olympics. Ariarne Titmus hangs on to win the silver and Paige Madden takes bronze. What an entertaining race out of two of the biggest stars in swimming. 

WINNER AND STILL CHAMPION: KATIE LEDECKY. 💪

HER FOURTH 800M FREE GOLD MEDAL IN A ROW. #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/gWQ91NJ1vQ

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 3, 2024

3:38 p.m.: Ledecky is finally starting to pull away from Titmus with 100 meters to go. Paige Madden has ferociously crawled back and now is even with Titmus for second place. 

3:37 p.m.: This has been an incredible effort out of Titmus, putting together a much closer fight than I think most expected. Ledecky still has a half-second lead on the Aussie heading into the final 200 meters, but she is not running away with it by any means. 

3:35 p.m.: At the halfway point, it remains a two-horse race with Titmus and Ledecky. The defending champion is slightly ahead, but not by much. Ledecky is pacing a bit behind her world record pace. 

3:32 p.m.: Through the first 200 meters, it's Ledecky and Ariarne Titmus at the front. The Australian is keeping pace with the American to start off the race, but there's still plenty of time to go. 

3:31 p.m.: Here we go! The 800-meter race is off. 

3:25 p.m.: Up next is the most anticipated race of the afternoon — the women's 800-meter freestyle. Katie Ledecky is going for her fourth consecutive gold medal in the event, and second first-place finish in Paris. 

3:15 p.m.: A shocking turn of events — Alex Walsh is disqualified for a faulty turn, and she loses the bronze medal. Kaylee McKeown of Australia gets the bronze instead. A heartbreaking moment as this was Walsh's lone event in 2024. 

🚨DQ: After seemingly winning bronze, Alex Walsh has been disqualified from the women's 200 IM final for going past vertical on her back to breast turn #Paris2024

— SwimSwam Live (@SwimSwamLive) August 3, 2024

3:14 p.m.: What a swim by Summer McIntosh! The Canadian teenager was behind Alex Walsh heading into the final leg, but McIntosh would not be denied a gold medal, beating Walsh and Kate Douglass to the wall. Douglass takes the silver and Walsh has the bronze. 

3:11 p.m.: A last-minute change to the field — Australia's Ella Ramsay is a late withdrawal from the final. The replacements were not ready so it's just a seven-swimmer field for the final. 

3:07 p.m.: Up next is the women's 200-meter individual medley. Canada's Summer McIntosh is the favorite in the event, having won the 400-meter individual medley. With that said, USA's Alex Walsh recorded a better time in the semifinal heats, so she is a name to watch. 

2:49 p.m.: Sarah Sjoestroem still has got it. The Swedish sensation finishes first in the heat with a new Olympic record of 23.66. Gretchen Walsh gets second at 24.147. 

2:43 p.m.: In the first semifinal, Poland's Katarzyna Wasick finishes first with a time of 24.23, beating China's Zhang Yufei and Australia's Shayna Jack in the semifinal. The most interesting note: there was a tie for fourth, so depending on how the second semifinal goes, China's Wu Qingfeng and Slovakia's Neza Klancar may have to compete in a swim-off for the last final spot. 

2:37 p.m.: Up next is the lone semifinals of the afternoon, and it's the women's 50-meter freestyle. Sweden's Sarah Sjoestroem is the frontrunner in the event, which will have the finals tomorrow. USA's Gretchen Walsh is the lone American in the race. 

2:35 p.m.: Kristof Milak wins the men's 100-meter butterfly. The Hungarian was determined to win gold in this event after losing to France's Leon Marchand in the 200-meter event, and he claims gold. The Canadian duo of Josh Liendo and Ilya Kharun take silver and bronze. 

Hungary's Kristof Milak secures gold in the 100m butterfly with Canada finishing two-three! 💪#ParisOlympics | 📺 NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/CSTx4LEYyy

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 3, 2024

2:24 p.m.: The first race of the afternoon slate is the men's 100-meter butterfly. Hungary's Kristof Milak and France's Maxime Grousset are the two to watch. Reminder: no Caeleb Dressel for the USA after he failed to qualify for the finals. 

1:49 p.m.: Wrapping up the Day 8 action is the mixed 4x100-meter medley relay. It's unclear exactly who will be racing for each country, but expect the USA, Australia and China to be the frontrunners in the event, no matter who they send to the pool. 

1:26 p.m.: After the individual medley event, it's the one all eyes will be on — the women's 800-meter freestyle. Katie Ledecky of the United States is the three-time defending gold medalist, first winning the Olympics event in 2012 and successfully retaining her title in 2016 and 2021. 

12:56 p.m.: In the women's 200-meter individual medley, Summer McIntosh is the one to watch. The Canadian teenager can win her third gold medal of the Olympics in an event she is the heavy favorite for. 

12:15 p.m.: The first final of the day is the men's 50-meter freestyle. The event will not have the defending champion from Tokyo, as USA's Caeleb Dressel failed to qualify for the finals. He finished the semifinals in 13th. 

11:30 a.m.: In women's 4x100-meter medley relay, it was Australia that finished with the best time, clocking in a finish at 3:54.81. The United States finished second in its heat at 3:56.40, behind Canada. Those finals take are on Sunday. 

11:22 a.m.: In men's 4x100-meter medley relay, France had the time to beat in the heats, coming in at 3:31.36. The United States won its heat with a time of 3:31.62. Those finals take place tomorrow. 

11:12 a.m.: For the men's 1500-meter freestyle, Ireland's Daniel Wiffen finished with the best time, recording a time of 14:40.34. The Irishman made history earlier in the Olympics when he secured Ireland's first Olympics swimming gold since 1996 in the men's 800-meter event. USA's Bobby Finke is competing in the event and is the country's last hope for winning gold in an individual male swimming event. Those finals take place on Sunday. 

10:51 a.m.: In the women's 50-meter freestyle qualifying heats, the Swedish speedster Sarah Sjoestroem clocked in the best time out of the 10 heats, finishing the race in 23.85. She previously won the 100-meter freestyle earlier these Olympics and is the defending silver medalist in the 50-meter event from Tokyo. The semifinals are set for later this afternoon. 

10:30 a.m.: This morning was the final qualifying heats for swimming at the 2024 Olympics, consisting of the women's 50-meter freestyle, the men's 1500-meter freestyle and both the men's and women's 4x100-meter medley relay. 

How to watch Olympic swimming

• Dates: July 27-Aug. 4
• Time: 5 a.m. ET, 2:30 p.m. ET
• TV channel: NBC, USA Network
• Live stream: Peacock, NBCOlympics.com, Fubo

Olympic swimming begins at 5 a.m. ET each day from July 27-Aug. 3. There will only be heats in the morning session. Every day will have an afternoon session that begins at 2:30 p.m. ET.

Aug. 4 is the final day of competition and will only feature an afternoon session with five finals races.

Fans can tune into the swimming competitions on NBC and USA Network. Those streaming can watch via Peacock, NBCOlympics.com or Fubo, which offers a free trial.

Olympic swimming schedule 2024

Olympic swimming begins on Saturday, July 27, and goes until Sunday, Aug. 4.

Swimmers begin at 5 a.m. ET each morning with heats that run until 2:30 p.m. ET when the afternoon session begins. The afternoon features semifinal and final races.

Aug. 4 will not have any morning races and will feature four finals in the afternoon.

Saturday, July 27

Sunday, July 28

Monday, July 29

Tuesday, July 30

Wednesday, July 31

Thursday, Aug. 1

Friday, Aug. 2

Saturday, Aug. 3

Sunday, Aug. 4