Behind every Olympian stands a support network that has had to make sacrifices for their loved one to achieve on the global stage.
For Katie Ledecky, it was her parents who helped lay the foundations for her incredible career.
In her interview with the news agency, the American swimmer paid tribute to those early years when her parents would wake up at the crack of dawn to ferry their child to training.
“We had early morning practices when I was in middle school, high school. Some of those practices would start at 4.45 a.m. My parents would be up at 4 a.m., make me a quick breakfast, drive me to the pool, and definitely sacrifice some hours of sleep,” she said.
“They were just great sports about it all. It was never a sacrifice to them, they were just supporting me and supporting my goals.”
Ledecky comes from a family of high-achievers. Her father David is a Harvard-educated lawyer and her mother Mary Gen was a collegiate swimmer. Her uncle Jon co-owns the NHL’s New York Islanders, while her brother also graduated from Harvard.
