Reuters
[Source: Reuters]
Canada’s Summer McIntosh set a 200 metres individual medley Olympic record as she won her third gold of the Paris Games and completed a double in the four-stroke event.
The 17-year-old touched out in two minutes 06.56 seconds to take down the 2016 record of 2:06.58 set by Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu at the Rio de Janeiro Games.
Kate Douglass of the United States won the silver and Australian Kaylee McKeown was awarded the bronze after U.S. swimmer Alex Walsh, the 2021 silver medallist, was disqualified for an illegal turn at the end of the backstroke leg.
Walsh was visibly upset and did not stop to speak with reporters after leaving the pool deck.
McIntosh won the 400 IM last Monday and also took gold in the 200 butterfly on Thursday.
With a silver in the 400 freestyle on the opening Saturday, she now has four medals from Paris.
Douglass, the 200 breaststroke gold medallist last Thursday, led after the butterfly leg but then faded as McIntosh hit the front with the backstroke. Walsh then led at the 150 mark, but the Canadian powered back in the freestyle.
Silver was a step up from the bronze Douglass won at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, while the bronze was backstroke queen McKeown’s seventh Olympic medal and third from Paris.
McKeown’s teammate Ella Ramsey, the eighth-fastest qualifier, did not start the final after the team reported she had tested positive for COVID.
