NANTERRE, France — The Summer Games continue as Canadian teenage phenom Summer McIntosh continues to impress at the Paris Olympics.
She claimed her second gold medal of the competition on Thursday night in the women’s 200-meter butterfly, beating a field that included the reigning Olympic champion in the event. McIntosh’s winning time of 2:03.03 set an Olympic record, ahead of Regan Smith’s 2:03.84, which gave Smith silver. China’s Zhang Yufei won bronze.
Smith improved her own American record by .03 in the final, but it was not enough to beat McIntosh.
17-year-old Summer McIntosh receives her SECOND GOLD MEDAL from the #Olympic Games in Paris in the 200m butterfly! 🤯
Regan Smith follows shortly after, winning silver. 🥈 | 📺 NBC and Peacock photo.twitter.com/JgRhD0xDfQ
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 1, 2024
“I’m really happy with the time,” McIntosh said of setting an Olympic record. “I’ll have to look at it again, I think my finish was a bit strange, but I can never get upset about a best time, especially by that margin.”
McIntosh, 17, is excelling on the world stage, to the surprise of no one who knows her. She has won three Olympic medals at this meet so far — gold in the 200 butterfly and 400 medley, plus silver in the 400 freestyle — and she has one event left. She will be a top contender alongside American Kate Douglass in the women’s 200 medley.
McIntosh is a two-time world champion in the 200-meter butterfly and was the top qualifier going into Thursday night’s final. The 200-meter butterfly was not only McIntosh’s favorite race growing up, it was also the event her mother, Jill, competed in at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.
“Sharing that moment with her is pretty cool,” McIntosh said. “I know she’s so proud of me, along with the rest of my family. I can’t thank them enough.”
High expectations don’t seem to faze the teenager. She said after winning her first Olympic gold medal in the 400 medley that she has been competing in major international swimming competitions for years and has learned a lot by participating in the Tokyo Games as the youngest member of the Canadian delegation.
“I’ve been doing this since I was 14,” McIntosh said. “Every time I get to race on the world stage, I learn more and more about how to handle it mentally, physically and emotionally. I try not to get too high or too low depending on my race results.”
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(Photo: Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
