Maryland Olympian Katie Ledecky is back in our area -- with five new Olympic medals.
The Bethesda, Maryland, native returns from Rio with four gold medals, a silver medal and a lifetime of memories from the Summer Games.
"I've been smiling a lot the last couple weeks," she said to News4's Eun Yang in her first interview since the games.
Ledecky spent years training at Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart. She graduated from the school last year and at 19 is a legend there.
"I never dreamed I would make the Olympics, but I started setting goals from a really early age and worked toward those, and goal-setting never ends," she said.
Ledecky said that even with a sizable lead in the pool in Rio, she never slowed down.
"You can't take anything for granted when you're out front or favored to win or anything like that. I just had to focus on how I wanted to put together that race," she said. "It was my last race in Rio and I wanted to make it count."
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Some of Ledecky's favorite moments at the games involved her fellow swimmers. When asked about the controversy surrounding fellow Team USA member Ryan Lochte, she spoke about the entire group.
"I still feel very honored and privileged to have been part of this team and what we accomplished," she said.
As Ledecky is welcomed home, she is scrambling to move to California, where she will attend Stanford University this fall. She said she hopes that having two Olympic teammates with her will help her adjust.
"I'm trying to get everything ready right now, unpacking from Rio and packing for Stanford," she said.
But Ledecky is used to working under pressure. She credited her parents for supporting her and said she was moved to tears that they shared in her Olympic victory.
"Standing at the medal ceremony and hearing the national anthem the last night as the flag was being lifted, my parents were in the section in the stands that was right under the flag and I couldn't help but cry," she said.
