-Katie Ledecky, welcome back
to "The Tonight Show." And, man, you brought
some friends with you. Wow! Can I hold one
or just feel it? Wow. This is -- Oh, my gosh. Does this hurt your neck?
-A little bit. -A little bit, yeah.
-That's okay. -You were unbelievable, pal.
I'm so happy. Thank you for coming back
to the show. Congrats on the book.
This is -- I was just rooting for you -- we all were during the Olympics,
and you made us so proud. -Thank you.
-You made this country so proud. You made --
Everyone who has, like -- Anyone who
wants to be in sports and an athlete you made proud. You won your ninth gold medal
of your career in Paris. Nine. Nine gold medals.
[ Cheers and applause ] And you became
the first woman to win the same individual event
at four straight Olympic Games. What?! That's insane! Have you taken time to let it
sink in and enjoy it at all? -A little bit. You know, I knew
that I had to come here and hear The Roots sing
their little jingle for me. I don't know if you remember,
but three years ago, they sang it,
and it's been a household song in the Ledecky household. So to help it sink in
a little more, I had to come here and see you. -Well, you're the best. You also visited
your grandmother last week, who must be so proud of you. Here's a picture
of you and grandma. -Yep.
-Oh, my gosh. -98 years old.
98 years young. -Is she 98?
-98. -98 years -- Hi, grandma. Also, when you won your
ninth gold medal, by the way, I think it was on August 3rd,
which was 12 years exactly from the day that
you won your first gold medal. And I was thinking in my head,
because I know there's -- I know you're thinking
about a thousand things, right? You're focused. But did you think for a second,
like, "Man, this is a special day. I have to win the gold in this." -It's kind of like your
birthday, your first gold medal. You remember the day. So every year
that August 3rd comes up, I think back, and it came up
again while I was in Paris. And I was like,
"Oh, my gosh. I need to make
August 3rd continue to be a happy day in my mind." So that was very
motivating to get the job done. -There's a moment
that went viral from Paris when you waved
to a young fan in the stands, and -- Do you know what
I'm talking about? -Yes. Yeah, yeah. -She couldn't believe
that you were waving at her. Watch this. -...pool after the 1,500, a little girl up in the stands
getting a glimpse of Katie. And how excited is she? And wait for this one, folks. "She waved at me. She saw me.
I don't know how to... I think I might faint." -I mean, is that --
That's what it's all about. That's what Katie Ledecky
is all about. I mean, how does that feel
to get that reaction from that little girl? -Oh, it's surreal to me. I mean, I was a 6-year-old
just starting to swim and I looked up to
these swimmers just like that. I mean,
and to now be in this position where I can make
that impact just with a wave, that hasn't sunk in to me. So, I'm proud that I, you know, can represent
Team USA every time I get up on the blocks, and maybe someday, one of
those young girls in the crowd will be out there
breaking my records. -Oh, come on. That was so cool of you
to do that. You were saying you were 6 years
old when you started swimming? -Yes. Yeah.
-Now, when you're 6 years old, you don't think about
the Olympics. You think about going to
pool parties. -No, no.
-Right? I mean, when did you go like, "I think I might be
really good at this"? -Well, I talk about it
in my book. Just when I was 6, I did not imagine I would
ever make it to the Olympics or anything close to that. But I just started
qualifying for bigger and bigger meets, and all of a sudden, Olympic trials was the next meet
to qualify for, and at that point, when I was 14 -- I guess
I was still pretty young -- it started to come
into the picture. And I made my first team
when I was 15. [ Cheers and applause ] -"Just Add Water" is the name
of the book, by the way. Fantastic. Name, the title --
"Just Add Water." That was --
When did you think about that? That's an "aha" moment
right there. I was looking at some of
the stories to talk about, and one that stuck in my head
was that you met Michael Jordan when you were 2? -Mm-hmm.
-And where was this? -Do you remember --
-It was at a Wizards game. He was just joining
the ownership group, and my Uncle Jon was part
of the ownership group of the Washington Capitals
and Wizards. And so I was at the game, and he started playing
peekaboo with me while I was eating my popcorn. And I was completely unfazed. And I actually knew
that it was him. I just, I guess,
was unimpressed. I don't know why, but I -- -You were -- Well, a kid with
popcorn. Hello. -I just was more impressed
by my popcorn. -Yeah.
-Yeah. -But you have a video of this
moment and you brought it here. -Yes.
-We're going to show it tonight. This is Michael Jordan
playing peekaboo with a 2-year-old
Katie Ledecky. Check this out. There he is there.
-Yep. Our friend Zach
is sitting next to us. -Unfazed. -And you can even see,
right there, I said, "Michael Jordan." -You said "Michael Jordan"
at 2 years old? -He said, "Do you know
who that is?" I said, "Michael Jordan." -It's a great read, and
you got to check this book out. I have to ask you, because
everyone's probably asking you, L.A. -- the Olympics are coming
home to the United States. You have so many fans here. Could we maybe see Katie Ledecky
competing in one more Olympics? -Maybe. I hope so. [ Cheers and applause ] -We would be honored
to root for you. Katie Ledecky, everyone. "Just Add Water"
is available now. We'll be right back with more
"Tonight Show." Stick around, everybody.
Come on back.