Swimming | Summer McIntosh, the Queen of the Games

(Paris) Young sensation. Great athlete. Triple Olympic gold medalist. Queen of the Games. Summer McIntosh is all of these things.

She did it again. For the third time this week, McIntosh won gold Saturday night in the 200m individual medley at the Paris La Défense Arena. It’s her fourth medal in the City of Lights.

At just 17 years old – a fact that tends to be forgotten – the Canadian rocket is the first athlete in the country’s history to win gold three times at the same edition of the Games.

“It’s quite surreal,” she calmly said as she passed through the mixed zone, after having once again experienced the winners’ ceremony, which she must be starting to know by heart.

“I’m just proud of myself, how I’ve been able to recover and handle this because it’s a lot,” she continued. “I’m able to do it because of the hard work and dedication I’ve put in to get to this moment with my family, my teammates and my coaches, who have also worked so hard to get me here today.”

McIntosh, who was swimming in lane 5, and American Alex Walsh traded the lead a few times. In the final 50 metres of the freestyle, the Canadian closed the gap by a few tenths to triumph. Walsh was ultimately disqualified for committing a violation in a turn. American Kate Douglass and Australian Kaylee McKeown won silver and bronze, respectively.

McIntosh, for her part, clocked a time of 2:06.5, setting a new Olympic record. Obviously.

After receiving her medal, she did what is almost becoming a ritual: she headed to the stands, where her parents were waiting for her.

“At the last Olympics, they couldn’t be there,” she recalled. “Now, to share this moment with them, it’s pretty incredible. To do it for a fourth time in a medal ceremony, it was also pretty surreal.”

Asked if she was aware of making history when she hit the wall at the end of the race, the young woman smiled. “No,” she replied.

With four medals under her belt, you might think that these Games are mission accomplished for McIntosh. However, the main player concerned has said that she always wants “more”. “I’m never satisfied and I think that’s one of my strengths.”

He only has one event left: the 4 x 100 m medley relay on Sunday.

Liendo and Kharun on the podium

McIntosh wasn’t the only one making history Saturday night at the Paris La Défense Arena. Some 45 minutes before her, Canadians and roommates Josh Liendo and Ilya Kharun had respectively won silver and bronze in a race that was neck and neck from the first to the last metre.

Canada’s swimming medal tally now stands at eight. That’s more than the six it won in Rio in 2016 and Tokyo in 2021. In fact, it’s the highest total in 40 years.

It was the first time in Canadian Olympic history that two male swimmers stood on the same podium. In the women’s event, such a thing has happened only once before, in Montreal in 1976. Cheryl Gibson and Becky Smith won silver and bronze in the 400m individual medley.

“A few days ago, Josh and I were thinking how crazy it would be if we were both on the podium,” Kharun said, holding his medal. “I’m so happy that we made it happen. It’s such an incredible feeling.”

Liendo, who narrowly missed the podium in the 50 freestyle the day before, was looking for revenge on Saturday night. “I just wanted to use that as motivation for the 100 butterfly. I did the work,” he said.

He was beaten at the very end by the Hungarian Milak Kristof, who touched the wall 9 hundredths of a second before him.

The Toronto native is the first black Canadian swimmer to reach the podium. “It’s a huge milestone and it’s something I don’t take lightly,” he said. “I take a lot of pride in being able to do that. It’s a surreal moment. In that stadium, with the crowd… Everything just came together. It’s hard to put into words.”

For Kharun, born in Montreal but raised in Las Vegas, it was his second bronze medal after winning the 200m butterfly on Wednesday. The 19-year-old had high hopes for the 100m butterfly, knowing that “the competition was fierce.”

” A top 3 It was like a dream, he said. I’m just so happy. I couldn’t believe it when I hit the wall.”

This Canadian double is all the more remarkable given that no male representative of the maple leaf in swimming has reached the podium at the last two Summer Olympics. “It’s a big change of momentum on the men’s side,” said Liendo. “It’s just exciting. We sent a message.”