PARIS – It’s definitely been Summer’s Games.
Summer McIntosh is the first Canadian athlete to win three gold medals in an Olympic Games.
The Toronto teenager completed her hat trick in Paris on Saturday in the 200-metre individual medley in Olympic-record time.
Victories in 200-metre butterfly, also an Olympic record, and 400-metre medley earlier in the meet put McIntosh in a Canadian triple gold club of one.
Having just taken Canadian sport into new territory at La Defense Arena, the 17-year-old wasn’t ready to contemplate her place in it.
“No, I mean there’s been so many people before me, that have led the way and inspired me to be where I am today and I really owe a lot of that to them,” McIntosh said. “I’m just proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish for Team Canada.”
Her four medals, including a 400-metre freestyle silver on opening night, matched teammate Penny Oleksiak’s four won in 2016 in Rio.
The difference is McIntosh went four-for-four in individual events. Oleksiak accrued freestyle gold and butterfly silver and two relay bronze in Rio.
But McIntosh said watching Oleksiak and Kylie Masse, who won her fourth backstroke medal in Paris, swim in Rio on television as a nine-year-old inspired her.
McIntosh could better the Summer Games record in Sunday’s medley relay. A fifth medal would equal speedskater Cindy Klassen’s five in Turin, Italy in 2006.
“Done with the individual events, so I can kind of take a deep breath. After I touch wall for the relay tomorrow, I’ll probably be able to start celebrating more,” McIntosh said. “I try and stay as low-key as possible and not overthink what I’ve done.
“Lots of time for celebrating when I get back to Canada. Once I get back, I plan for a bunch of my Floridian friends and Toronto friends to go out to my cottage. I’ve done it every year for 10 years now. I’m just excited to get back on Canadian ground.”
Poised and laser-focused throughout the meet, there was a hint of mission accomplished in the young swimmer’s demeanour Saturday. With a Canadian flag draped around her shoulders again, McIntosh softly high-fived people along the pool deck between photos.
She executed out of the pool as well as in it. Her ambitious swim schedule required an equally ambitious recovery plan between races, which McIntosh said featured primarily eating and sleeping a lot.
Saturday’s final was her 12th race in eight days.
“I’m just so proud of myself for how I recover and manage these events because it’s a lot,” McIntosh admitted. “Throughout this week, definitely today has probably been the hardest because I know it’s Day 8 of a swim meet and I think I’ve only done seven days of swimming before.
“It just comes back to mentally being ready because I know I’m as physically prepared as possible. Going into this final, I tried to have a really big nap before. I was able to get an extra three hours because I haven’t been sleeping amazing.”
In just her second time racing the 200 I.M. internationally, McIntosh led after the backstroke leg, but lagged behind Alex Walsh of the U.S. at the turn from breaststroke to freestyle.
The Canadian overtook Walsh on the final strokes coming home, with the American out-touched by teammate Kate Douglass for the silver medal.
Walsh was disqualified for an illegal turn on the backstroke to breaststroke transition, so the bronze went to Australian Kaylee McKeown.
“I knew after the 150 mark I might be behind,” McIntosh said. “I couldn’t really see where I was, but I knew that I can just bring it home as best as possible because I do swim the 400 I.M. and I know how to work that endurance and quick transitions. I knew it was going to be a close race.”
McIntosh wasn’t able to have parents Jill and Greg or sister Brooke with her in Tokyo three years ago when she made her Olympic debut at 14 because of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.
The McIntosh family made up for lost time in Paris.
“Now to share that moment with them was pretty incredible, and to do it for a fourth time on the victory ceremony was pretty surreal,” McIntosh said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 3, 2024.
