Before she could fully dry off and enjoy her achievement as the first American swimmer to win nine Olympic gold medals, Katie Ledecky was asked if she was looking to 2028 and compete in her fifth consecutive Games.
Ledecky was 31 at the time, an age considered advanced by most swimming statistics. Still, one wonders whether the accepted standards apply to someone who, with 14 Olympic medals, is the fifth most medal-winning athlete of all time and who is only the second swimmer and sixth athlete to win gold in the same event in four consecutive Games, as Ledecky did in the 800-meter freestyle.
“I feel like I’m not done with the sport yet,” Ledecky said after setting an Olympic record in the 1,500-meter freestyle in Paris last Wednesday. “I’d like to continue and when I see the support the French athletes get here, I think all the American athletes are thinking about how cool it would be to have a home crowd in Los Angeles (site of the 2028 Games). So it would be great to be able to compete there.”
GO DEEPER
Katie Ledecky, who has secured her Olympic legacy, still seems to have so much more up her sleeve
Such an occasion could spell a Disney-style end to what has been a sublime career, with deafening cheers and waving flags as the backdrop. But will she return? Or, to take it one step further, should Is the potential reward of winning on her home turf greater than the lurking danger and disappointment of not winning gold or not medaling at all?
Neither seems likely, especially given that she cut her margin of victory in the 1,500 freestyle from just over four seconds at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to just over 10 seconds last week. That’s a long way for an opponent to make up in four years, but that’s also what draws us to sports: the fact that you never know. It’s also why part of me hopes that she and Simone Biles, another 27-year-old who is this country’s most decorated gymnast with seven Olympic gold medals and 11 total, will decide their cups are full and take the time to sip.
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There’s nothing left to prove for either of them. Their legacies are written in ink. But history shows that they’re unlikely to stay away. The greats aren’t wired that way. They seek out tough challenges and live for historic moments. When others run from the light, they run toward it. That trait is part of what makes them special and why, in most cases (more on that later), I believe society has no right to intrude on their decision — even though I admit to looking through my fingers at Willie Mays in a Mets uniform, Johnny Unitas in a Chargers jersey, and Michael Jordan in Wizards colors.
In a perfect world, we would remember our sports heroes at their best, not as shadows of their former selves. But competition can be a drug that is hard to kick, not to mention the financial rewards that come with success. Money, however, comes a distant second, because I have never met a truly great athlete who was driven by money at his or her core. For them, greatness is a need, not a desire.
GO DEEPER
If that was all for Simone Biles’ Olympic career, let’s all appreciate what we just saw
Part of my fear is that people can tear you down just as quickly as they can build you up. Take Biles. Despite being the darling of the Olympics back in the day, a segment of the public turned on her four years ago when she withdrew from the Tokyo Olympics due to a mental health issue. J.D. Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee who was a senatorial hopeful at the time, even went so far as to accuse her of “giving up.”
“I think it reflects poorly on our therapeutic society that we try to praise people not for moments of strength, not for moments of heroism, but for their weakest moments,” Vance told Fox News in 2021.
It was an outrageous characterization on so many levels. The icons have given us so much joy that they deserve the respect to go out on their own terms. Which is why Colin Montgomerie crossed the line last month in the run-up to The Open when he told the Times of London that Tiger Woods should put down his golf clubs. At the time, Woods had missed the cut in two consecutive majors and hadn’t broken par since his 69 in the second round of the 2022 PGA Championship.
“I hope people remember Tiger for what Tiger was, the passion and the charisma around him,” Montgomerie said. “That’s not there now. At Pinehurst he didn’t seem to like a shot and you think, ‘What the hell is he doing?’ He comes to Troon and he won’t like it there either.”
Tiger Woods greets the crowd as he leaves the 18th green after the second round of the 152nd Open Championship in Troon, Scotland. (Harry How/Getty Images)
Woods did not play well in The Open, missing the cut for a third consecutive major. Was it tough to watch him struggle? Yes. But it was understandable, considering Woods set the bar of expectations so high during the prime of his career, when he was the most dominant golfer on the planet and one of the all-time greats. He made the cut in 142 consecutive events from 1998 to 2005, breaking the PGA Tour record of 113 events previously held by Byron Nelson, and his 82 PGA Tour wins are tied for first place with Sam Snead. His 15 majors are second only to Jack Nicklaus’ 18.
He has an exemption to play in The Open until he’s 60 because of his previous victories in the tournament, so if Woods, now 48 and in the midst of four back surgeries, plus knee, leg and ankle surgeries, chooses to exercise that option, so be it. He’s earned that right. His game may not be what it once was, but if he’s OK with it, then so should we, given what he’s done for the game and how he continues to move the needle like no other.
The winds of change eventually blow over every athlete, regardless of their ability. In team competitions, they usually have to decide whether they are willing to play a lesser role. Soccer legend Cristiano Ronaldo is experiencing that now. After decades as one of the world’s best players, the 39-year-old Portuguese star faced questions last month about whether he should come off the bench for Euro 2024. And last NBA season, Klay Thompson, a future Hall of Famer and one of the greatest shooters of all time in Golden State Warriors history, struggled emotionally before eventually being moved to the benchpartly due to a decline in efficiency after a two-year absence due to injuries.
The only time the decision to step away should be taken out of the athlete’s hands is when their physical well-being is at stake. As a teenager, I would groan and groan and sometimes look away as Larry Holmes motioned for the referee to stop the fight while he pummeled Muhammad Ali. The fight was billed as “The Last Hurrah,” but alas, an overweight and aging Ali stepped into the ring for the last time in a loss to Trevor Berbick. Those fights should never have been sanctioned, let alone sanctioned. Which brings me to Tony Ferguson.
The popular fighter once held the UFC record of 12 straight victories, winning the interim lightweight championship and thrilling fans with his relentless drive and active style. But Ferguson, now 40, had lost seven straight fights before Saturday’s bout against Michael Chiesa and had looked bad in several of them. His last win came in 2019.
Tony Ferguson please retire you have nothing left to prove to this sport 💔 photo.twitter.com/ZpG3LUu1Z1
— ★ ᴍʏᴛʜɪᴄ 𝖩𝖺𝗒𖤐 (@StunnaXXL) August 3, 2024
Chiesa, unsurprisingly, submitted him in the first round. He then said he wanted to keep fighting. The words were a chilling reminder that sometimes an athlete needs to be protected from himself. Ferguson is the type of guy who will fight until his dying breath, convinced that he’s just one adjustment away from regaining his championship form. That’s not the case. It’s at times like these that I feel comfortable projecting my beliefs: it’s time for him to walk away or for others to take the gloves off for him.
The situation is very different from Ledecky and Biles. They are still at the top of their game. Will they be in four years? That is up to them to decide.
(Top photo of Katie Ledecky on the set of the “Today Show” in Paris: Kristy Sparow/Getty Images)
