As the Rio Olympics came to an end over the weekend, Montgomery County residents finished strong with six gold medals—more first-place finishes than 189 of the 205 nations participating in the Olympics.
Much of that success came from Bethesda swimmer Katie Ledecky, who dominated in several events and scored gold in the 200-, 400-, and 800-meter freestyles, as well as in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay. She also won silver in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay.
The now 19-year-old Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart graduate broke onto the scene in the 2012 Summer Olympics and has since shattered multiple world records and regularly beats opponents by full-second margins.
Rockville wrestler Helen Maroulis, 24, earned gold in freestyle 53 kg wrestling by toppling the nearly undefeatable Saori Yoshida in a dramatic upset and the first-ever gold for the U.S. in women’s wrestling.
Jack Conger, a rising star in swimming and possible heir apparent to Michael Phelps, helped his team to gold in the 4×200-meter relay. The Rockville resident and Our Lady of Good Counsel High School graduate also became embroiled in the latest scandal of the Olympics, when he and teammate Gunnar Bentz were detained in Brazil following a fabricated robbery story.
Kyle Snyder, 20, who won gold in 97 kg freestyle wrestling on Sunday, lives in Howard County but wrestled at Good Counsel in Olney.
