ESPN Social Media Botches Post About Katie Ledecky & Michael Phelps

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American swimmer Katie Ledecky crushed her competition in the 1,500-meter freestyle, winning the eighth Olympic gold medal and the 12th overall Olympic medal in her career. 

She also set an Olympic record in the process – breaking her own previously-set record. 

Ledecky has drawn comparisons to Michael Phelps, the greatest American swimmer in history. Phelps competed in four Olympics from 2004 to 2016, collecting 23 gold medals and 28 total medals. 

Phelps has more medals than any Olympic athlete in history. So, Ledecky has a long way to go to catch Phelps. 

That being said, Ledecky is already competing in her fourth Olympic Games in 2024, and she's still just 27 years old. She won her first gold when she was 15.

ESPN social media posted about the Olympic medals won by Katie Ledecky and Michael Phelps, but gave the wrong statistics.

ESPN social media posted about the Olympic medals won by Katie Ledecky and Michael Phelps, but gave the wrong statistics. 

(Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP via Getty Images)

There's certainly a chance she could catch Phelps based on longevity alone. Phelps didn't win his first Olympic gold until he was 21 and competed in his last Games as a 31-year-old. 

Well, ESPN set out to congratulate Katie Ledecky on her accomplishment and compare her to Phelps. The only problem is the post was factually inaccurate. 

Ledecky did win her 12th Olympic medal, but Michael Phelps has 28 medals, not 23. He has 23 gold medals. 

ESPN then faced the wrath of the X Community Notes for that post, which as of this writing has been up for over three hours with no corrections. 

It seems like "The Worldwide Leader In Sports" probably shouldn't make mistakes like that, but errors do happen. People are human, after all. 

But the fact that the post remains up, without editing, over three hours later is the more concerning part. 

Perhaps the company should focus more on getting things right and less on making sure the person running the social media account is the "right" gender and skin color. 

Just a thought. 

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Dan began his sports media career at ESPN, where he survived for nearly a decade. Once the Stockholm Syndrome cleared, he made his way to OutKick. He is secure enough in his masculinity to admit he is a cat-enthusiast with three cats, one of which is named "Brady" because his wife wishes she were married to Tom instead of him.