Canadian sensation Summer McIntosh wins first Olympic gold medal in 400m individual medley
NANTERRE, France — Forget the Summer Games. These might just be the Summer Games.
Summer McIntosh, the 17-year-old Canadian phenom, won the first Olympic gold medal of her career Monday night in the grueling women’s 400-meter individual medley, clearing the wall in 4:27.71.
Americans Katie Grimes (4:33.40) and Emma Weyant (4:34.93) won silver and bronze respectively.
Summer McIntosh easily wins gold in the women’s 400m individual medley! #Olympic Games in Paris | 📺 NBC & Pauw photo.twitter.com/hilI3mkTj3
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) July 29, 2024
McIntosh is the world record holder and two-time world champion in the event and was considered the heavy favorite in the 400 IM leading up to the Paris Olympics. The result is not necessarily a surprise, but the margin was impressive. McIntosh said she first realized how big her lead was at the beginning of the breaststroke, and by the end of it she knew she was on the verge of winning her first gold medal, leading to a very enjoyable final freestyle.
After that, McIntosh was calm and collected, as she so often is. She achieved the goal she had set for herself. She has swum this event so many times in major international competitions that it didn’t bother her that she had just swum (and won) it at the Olympics.
Three years ago she competed at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, where she finished fourth in the women’s 400-meter freestyle.
“I’ve been doing this since I was 14,” McIntosh said. “Every time I get to race on the world stage, I’ve learned 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.”
It is her second medal of the Games so far, following a silver in the 400-meter freestyle, in which Australia’s Ariarne Titmus also won gold and America’s Katie Ledecky took bronze. That final, which was hyped as one of the most anticipated races of the entire Games, featured three swimmers who had previously held the world record in the event.
McIntosh has said she grew up idolizing Ledecky and Michael Phelps. She had a poster of Ledecky on her wall growing up and her cat was named “Mikey,” after Phelps. And here she is, beaming on the Olympic podium, just like them.
“She’s an inspiration to everybody,” said teammate Kylie Masse, who swam in the women’s 100-meter backstroke semifinals Monday night. “For so many young swimmers in Canada to be able to see her and see her success here on the international stage, (they’ll know) that they can dream big and keep doing what they set their minds to.”
It is the second gold medal for the Canadian team at the Olympics, after Christa Deguchi won gold earlier on Monday in the women’s judo under 57 kilograms.
Later this week, McIntosh will swim – and be among the top contenders – in both the 200-meter individual medley and 200-meter butterfly.
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(Photo: Manan Vatsyayan/AFP via Getty Images)
