Canada’s Summer McIntosh wins gold medal in women’s 400m individual medley

July 29, 2024 Canuck

Canadian phenom Summer McIntosh claimed the first gold medal of her just-burgeoning career Monday night with a dominating victory in the 400-meter individual medley at the Paris Olympics.

The 17-year-old McIntosh collected her first career medal on the opening night of swimming, taking a silver in the 400 freestyle behind Ariarne Titmus — and ahead of Katie Ledecky.

Now, McIntosh has the best colour of all.

“I try to take every event very individually and just do my work, but starting off for me — getting on the podium — is definitely a great way to start,” McIntosh said. “You try to continue to get better and better.”

WATCH l McIntosh becomes 1st Canadian woman to win Olympic 400m IM:

Summer McIntosh swims to her 1st Olympic gold medal

1 hour ago

Duration 11:01

Toronto’s Summer McIntosh won her first-career Olympic gold medal at Paris 2024, and also became the first Canadian female swimmer to win an Olympic 400-metre individual medley race.

She pushed the pace hard through the first half of the grueling race — the butterfly and backstroke legs — to leave everyone in her wake except American Katie Grimes.

“I was very happy to get the job done, to stand on top of the podium and get the gold medal. It’s always just about having fun, as well as pushing my body to its limits.”

WATCH l McIntosh awarded her 1st Olympic gold medal:

Summer McIntosh receives her 1st Olympic gold medal

1 hour ago

Duration 5:21

Watch the Canadian flag rise to the rafters after Toronto’s Summer McIntosh is awarded her first Olympic gold medal at Paris 2024.

McIntosh was under her own world-record pace, but couldn’t keep it going. She touched in 4 minutes, 27.71 seconds, more than three seconds off the mark of 4:24.38 she set at the Canadian trials in May.

But it was more than good enough to vanquish the field in the Olympic final.

McIntosh seemed to take it all in stride. Maybe it’s because she competed at the Tokyo Olympics at age 14, so she sort of feels like a veteran now.

“Every single time I get to race on the world stage, I learn more and more about handling mentally and physically and emotionally and trying not to get too high or too low,” McIntosh said.

Grimes, who is also swimming the open water event in Paris, held on to claim the silver in 4:33.40. The Americans also grabbed the bronze when Emma Weyant touched in 4:34.93.

“She set an impressive standard, for sure,” said Weyant. “She is training with my old club team so she is in good hands. She continues to do impressive things.”

She’s got a grueling schedule in Paris which includes two more individual races — the 200 butterfly and 200 IM.

There are no plans to celebrate just yet.

“I mean, obviously I’m super happy with this gold,” McIntosh said. “But now I’m all about the 200 fly on day five.”

“I try to take every event individually, one by one,” said McIntosh. “Getting on the podium was a great way to start. I try not to get too high or too low.”

Mary-Sophie Harvey 4th in women’s 200m freestyle

Mary-Sophie Harvey of Trois-Rivières, Que.,, finished fourth in the women’s 200m freestyle final, just 0.74 seconds shy of a podium.

Mollie O’Callaghan lead an Australian 1-2 finish with an Olympic record time of one minute 53.27 seconds, ahead of Ariarne Titmus (1:53.81). Hong Kong’s Siobhan Bernardette Haughey took bronze.

Also on Monday, Kylie Masse of Lasalle, Ont., and Calgary’s Ingrid Wilm advanced to the women’s 100m backstroke in fifth and sixth places, respectively.

The event’s final is set for Tuesday at 2.56 p.m. ET.

WATCH l Gold medallist McIntosh speaks with CBC Sports’ Devin Heroux:

Summer McIntosh hopes her gold medal victory will inspire future generations of Canadian swimmers

52 minutes ago

Duration 2:08

Toronto’s Summer McIntosh spoke with CBC Sports’ Devin Heroux poolside after winning the Olympic women’s 400-metre individual medley final at Paris 2024.

Another teen rules

David Popovici made the teenagers 2-for-2 on the night when he pulled off a thrilling victory in the men’s 200 freestyle.

The 19-year-old Romanian was among three swimmers who swapped the lead back and forth on the final lap. First, it was American Luke Hobson edging in front. Then Britain’s Matthew Richards, out in Lane 1, pushed to the lead.

Finally, it was Popovici mustering everything he had to get to the wall in 1:44.72 — a mere two-hundredths ahead of Richards, with Hobson just 0.07 back to earn the bronze.

Britain’s Duncan Scott, the silver medallist in Tokyo three years ago, finished in 1:44.87 to miss out on the podium this time. The top four were separated by a mere 0.15 seconds.

Gold for Italy, again

Thomas Ceccon gave Italy its second gold in as many nights, rallying to win the men’s 100 backstroke.

China’s Xu Jiayu led at the turn, just ahead of American Ryan Murphy — the 2016 gold medallist. Ceccon was third, but he switched to another gear on the return lap.

The Italian, who has held the world record since the 2022 world championships in Budapest, now has a gold medal to go with it after finishing in 52.00.

Xu claimed the silver (52.32), while the 29-year-old Murphy settled for the bronze for the second Olympics in a row at 52.39.

Ceccon followed Nicolo Martinenghi, who grabbed Italy’s first gold at the pool with a victory in the 100 breaststroke Sunday night.

WATCH l McIntosh wins 1st career Olympic medal:

Summer McIntosh swims to silver for Canada’s 1st Paris 2024 medal

2 days ago

Duration 10:15

Toronto teen Summer McIntosh won her first-career Olympic medal, swimming to silver in the women’s 400m freestyle final. Australia’s Ariarne Titmus won gold, while American Katie Ledecky claimed bronze.

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