PARIS — Summer McIntosh won the women’s 200-meter individual medley here at the 2024 Olympics on Saturday, coming from behind over the final 50, and claimed gold in one of the meet’s most loaded events.
Team USA's Kate Douglass won silver, but Alex Walsh was disqualified after coming in third for an illegal turn from backstroke to breaststroke. That mistake cost her a bronze medal.
The mainstream media machine had built last weekend's 400-meter freestyle into the "Race of the Century." But in swimming circles, that race had a clear winner; the 200 IM, on the other hand, shaped up as the true "race of the year," with four or five potential winners and a few new titans of the sport.
In Lane 1, there was Australia's Kaylee McKeown, double-double champion of the backstroke events at Tokyo 2021 and here in Paris.
In Lane 3, there was Kate Douglass, gold medalist in the 200 breaststroke and perhaps the most versatile female swimmer on the planet.
In Lane 4, there was Douglass’ U.S. teammate, Alex Walsh, the silver medalist in this event a few days past her 20th birthday in Tokyo.
In Lane 5, there was Summer McIntosh, 17 years old and already the best all-around female swimmer in the world.
The two Americans entered as the last two world champions. McIntosh entered with three medals, two of them gold, as the breakout star on the women's side of this meet. McKeown, meanwhile, entered with nothing to lose. "My main events are out of the way," she said Friday. "And tomorrow's just a fun time for me" — yet still an event in which she owns a worlds silver medal, and which she entered with the fastest personal-best time in the field.
China’s Yu Yiting, an 18-year-old accelerating into the mix, also lurked in Lane 7. In a relatively predictable sport, this felt like a true “race of the year” because it packed star power but nothing even resembling a clear favorite.
And over two frantic minutes here at Paris La Défense Arena, it lived up to the hype.
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