17-year-old Summer McIntosh wins ‘surreal’ second gold medal of the Paris Olympics
The Canadian’s latest triumph in La Défense Arena – a strong contender for the noisiest venue at these Games – came in the women’s 200-meter butterfly on Thursday.
Not only content with another gold, adding to her 400m medley victory from earlier this week, McIntosh also set an Olympic record of 2:03.86, surging ahead of the competition in the final 50 meters.
American Regan Smith was 0.81 seconds back in silver while China’s Zhang Yufei, the previous Olympic record holder in this event, took bronze after fading in the final stages.
As for McIntosh, she climbed out of the pool, raised a hand to the crowd, and was met with a roar of approval. A few weeks short of her 18th birthday, she is fast becoming a star of the Paris Olympics.
“Pretty surreal, I’m really happy with the time,” McIntosh told reporters after the race. “I need to rewatch it, I think my finish was a little bit weird, but I can never be upset with a best time, especially by that margin.”
The victory was also a nice moment for the McIntosh family: the teenager’s mother, Jill Horstead, competed internationally in the same event in the 1980s.
“It’s pretty cool winning the 200 fly because that, by far, was her main event,” added McIntosh. “So to share that moment with her is pretty cool. I know she is so proud of me along with the rest of my family. I can’t thank them enough.”
McIntosh arrived at these Games hardly an unknown quantity. She has long seemed destined to win multiple medals in Paris, and on top of her two gold medals, she also won silver behind Australia’s Ariarne Titmus in the 400-meter freestyle final on Saturday.
Even before the Olympics, she could call herself a world record holder in the 400m individual medley and a four-time world champion.
In Thursday’s final, she trailed Zhang for much of the race before the pair drew level near the end of the third length. From there, it always seemed clear who the winner would be; McIntosh had opened up a commanding lead by the time she touched the wall, 0.83 seconds ahead of Zhang’s record from the Tokyo Olympics.
Smith, meanwhile, improved on her American record by 0.03 seconds with her time of 2:03.84.
McIntosh is competing in her second Olympics having appeared as a 14-year-old in Tokyo, and she is likely to soon have another chance to medal when she competes in the 200-meter individual medley. The heats for that event take place on Friday, with the final scheduled for Saturday.
It’s turning into a busy but productive Olympics for McIntosh, and she even competed in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay later on Thursday evening, finishing fourth with the Canadian team.
The champion’s formula to staying calm between so many events? “It’s more simple than people think behind the scenes,” said McIntosh. “All I’m doing is eating and sleeping when I’m not swimming – rest my brain as much as possible.”
McIntosh mentioned her enjoyment of swimming in various sports, saying, "I love all sports, but swimming is my passion." During a break from her fierce competition schedule, she admitted, "I enjoy watching other sports, like basketball and football, when I have some free time."
