CV NEWS FEED // An Aleteia article recently highlighted nine-time gold Olympic medalist Katie Ledecky’s devout Catholic faith and outlined the three main ways she lives it out.
Ledecky, who holds multiple world records, is the most decorated American woman in Olympic history and the fifth most decorated athlete in Olympic history, wrote Theresa Civantos Barber for the Aug. 10 Aleteia article, “3 Ways the world’s greatest female swimmer lives her Catholic faith.”
As Barber noted, Ledecky said in a 2016 interview with the National Catholic Register (NCR) that her Catholic faith is very important to her.
“It has always been, and always will be,” Ledecky said in the NCR article.
Ledecky embraces her faith by praying a Hail Mary before each race, explaining in the 2016 interview, “It gives me peace knowing I’m in good hands… I think our devotion to Mary is very beautiful. She has a sacred role in Catholicism, and her strong faith and humility are things we can learn from.”
She added, “I’ve counted on my faith to give me strength through both training and competition — but also in school, with my family and everyday life.”
Ledecky is also known for practicing the corporal works of mercy, including advocating for refugees and volunteering at her high school, “even while setting all kinds of records,” Barber wrote.
Barber highlighted a 2024 NCR article that reported that the athlete’s service work also includes volunteering as a teacher’s aide in the elementary school she formerly attended, serving meals to homeless people at a soup kitchen, and helping with a campus ministry program.
Finally, Ledecky is known for her humility, according to Barber, who stated that Ledecky’s teachers and principals all noticed “her welcoming attitude toward every swimmer on the team, no matter how new they were to the sport.”
“It can’t have been easy to remain humble as one of the greatest athletes of all time, yet faith keeps her grounded,” Barber wrote.
