Track and field legend Anita Wlodarczyk plans to make Paris her final Olympics
Poland's Anita Wlodarczyk, the only woman to win three Olympic gold medals in one individual track and field event, plans to make the Paris Games her final Olympics.
Wlodarczyk, 38, said in a Polish TV interview that aired over the weekend that she wants to compete beyond 2024, but not through the 2028 Los Angeles Games, her manager confirmed.
In Paris, Wlodarczyk can bid to become the third track and field athlete to win four Olympic golds in the same individual event after American Al Oerter in the discus (1956 through 1968) and American Carl Lewis in the long jump (1984 through 1996).
She can also become the first woman in any sport to win four Olympic golds in the same individual event, though American swimmer Katie Ledecky will bid for the same feat in the 800m freestyle, which takes place three days before Wlodarczyk's hammer final.
Japanese wrestler Kaori Icho won four golds, but not all were in the same weight class.
Wlodarczyk finished 13th at last August's world championships, coming back from 2022 leg surgery that repaired damage from sprinting after (and catching) somebody who broke into her car.
American Brooke Andersen won the 2022 World title, and Canadian Camryn Rogers won the 2023 World title.
Wlodarczyk has the top six throws on World Athletics’ all-time list. Her world record from 2016 -- 82.98 meters, or 272 feet and nearly three inches -- is nearly nine feet past the second-best performer in history, 2019 World champion DeAnna Price of the U.S.
