Paris Olympics: Three-Year Journey Leads Paige Madden to Stunning Olympic Bronze

Paige Madden -- Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

Paris Olympics: Three-Year Journey Leads Paige Madden to Stunning Olympic Bronze

Paige Madden was as far as possible from challenging Katie Ledecky and Ariarne Titmus in an 800 freestyle. For the second consecutive year, Madden had missed the U.S. World Championships team, not coming close to a qualifying spot in either the 200 or 400 free. The 800 free, not even on her event lineup. It was a far cry from the highlight of her swimming career (to that point), swimming in an individual 400-meter final and contributing to relay silver at the Tokyo Olympics.

Now, Madden is the feel-good story of the penultimate night of Olympic swimming in Paris, the recency of her struggles making these achievements among the most unlikely of the entire U.S. team.

By the halfway point of the swimming competition, she had almost exactly matched her achievements from three years earlier, again qualifying for the 400 free final and helping the American women to silver in the 800 free relay, with Madden and Ledecky as the only returning U.S. swimmers from the previous Games.

Best times, so far out of reach in 2022 and 2023, were coming again. “I mean I never thought I was going to go faster than what I did in Tokyo,” Madden said.

The morning after the relay, Madden swam prelims of the 800 free, an event in which she had never broken 8:30 at Pathis time last year. She posted a time of 8:20.71, a seven-second best time to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team, the runnerup finish to Ledecky coming at the expense of teenager Jillian Cox. She would make quick work of that mark in the Paris prelims, getting under 8:20 for the first time and securing the No. 2 seed for the final.

A bronze? Possible, sure, if she was able to keep the rest of the field within range early on. Even Madden could not have guessed she would finish closer to second place than fourth.

Paige Madden — Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

She hovered between fourth and fifth place for most of the race before moving ahead of Simona Quadarella, the Tokyo bronze medalist in the event, on the 11th of 16 laps. Ledecky and Titmus had been locked in a duel for the first three-quarters of the race, and by the time Ledecky finally built a lead over her Australian rival with 200 meters remaining, Madden was closing in quickly.

“If I get second to her at trials, in my heart I’ve won just because, you know, she’s so incredible,” Madden said of Ledecky. “To be close to her and feel myself running her down a little bit at the end of the race was pretty awesome.”

It appeared for a moment as though Madden might catch Titmus for silver, but that notion quickly dissipated. Bronze would be Madden’s ceiling, but it was a very meaningful bronze that notched Madden among the best ever in the event. Her final time was 8:13.00, making Madden the fourth-fastest performer in history in the event, behind only Ledecky, Summer McIntosh and Titmus. She became the second-fastest American in history, ahead of the legendary Janet Evans.

“That was really special,” Ledecky said. “I know how hard Paige has worked over the years. And she’s had an incredible summer. I told her after the medal ceremony, ‘Do you realize you just broke the old world record, like before I broke it?’ She didn’t really process that. Tremendous performance from her.”

Madden credited her work over the last year with coaches Bob Bowman and Erik Posegay in a pro group based in Tempe, Ariz., and later in Austin, Texas, for pushing her past her preconceived physical limits.

“Bob and Eric really pushed me and held me to the higher standard, as well as my teammates. I train with the best people in the world. Regan Smith has pushed me every single day, and shout out to her for that,” Madden said. “I had a few breakthroughs in training that made me believe in myself.”

Minutes after her final race in Paris, the teary-eyed 25-year-old stepped onto the gold-medal podium alongside Ledecky, who had clinched her fourth consecutive Olympic gold in the 800 free, as the national anthem played. She paraded around La Défense Arena wearing a smile that looked as though it may never fade. Dropping seven-and-a-half seconds in two days stunned the world, but for Madden, it was a long time coming.

“If you told me that a year ago, I would have said you’re crazy, but maybe a month ago, it was sort of in the back of my mind, just based off of my training, but it still feels so surreal,” Madden said. “It’s been three years, especially this last year. I think it just hasn’t shown until tonight.”

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