Paris Olympics, Day 3 Finals: Summer McIntosh Dominates 400 IM Final For First Olympic Gold; Americans Grimes, Weyant 2-3
At her first Olympics, Summer McIntosh was a 14-year-old prodigy who came very close to winning a pair of medals, falling from third to fourth in the final lengths of the 400 free final. One year later, her first world title came in the 200 butterfly as she pulled away from American veteran Hali Flickinger in her international debut in the event.
But the 400 individual medley is the event McIntosh was built to swim. The combination of speed and endurance that make a mid-distance specialist? Check. Near-perfect technique? Yup. Elite speed in every stroke? Not quite, with her breaststroke still a work-in-progress, but she is one of the world’s best in freestyle and butterfly and a potentially world-class backstroker if only she could fit the stroke into her schedule. The intangibles and flair for coming through at critical junctures? Absolutely.
The full spectrum of McIntosh’s mastery was unveiled in front of a global audience Monday evening in Paris, as the 17-year-old Canadian dominated the 400 IM Olympic final for her first Olympic gold medal.
McIntosh never trailed in the final, and although she got a significant push from American Katie Grimes for the first half of the race, she showcased a superior breaststroke to open up a lead of almost five seconds entering freestyle. For the first portion of the event, it appeared McIntosh might take down her own world record as she swam more than a half-second quicker than pace through the halfway point. That did not materialize, but McIntosh knew she had a gold medal locked up well before she touched.
“I couldn’t really see anything until the breaststroke second 50, and I kind of looked around to make sure I was in a comfortable lead,” she said. “Definitely knew that I had the gold medal going into the last 100 meters.”
In the end, McIntosh touched in 4:27.71 to secure gold, the seventh-fastest mark in history and a time that only she and Hungarian star Katinka Hosszu, the 2016 Olympic champion in the event, have ever surpassed. Even as the clear favorite, McIntosh’s reaction was not relief but unadulterated joy.
“Definitely pretty surreal. I was very happy to get the job done tonight because that was a goal of mine to stand on top of the podium and win a gold medal. To accomplish that, I was very happy to get that,” McIntosh said. “Absolutely not. It’s always just about having fun along with pushing my body to its limits. There’s definitely a lot of anticipation going into the race, but I wouldn’t say there are necessarily nerves. There’s no relief. I’m really just trying to soak up every moment I have at the Games.”
- World Record: Summer McIntosh, CAN – 4:24.38
- Olympic Record: Katinka Hosszu, HUN – 4:26.36
- Tokyo Olympic Champion: Yui Ohashi, Japan – 4:32.08
Katie Grimes (left) & Emma Weyant after winning Olympic medals in the women’s 400 IM — Photo Courtesy: Andrea Masini / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
As for the race behind McIntosh, the United States continued building momentum after a strong night two in which the team won four medals. Grimes, who was under American-record pace through 250 meters, could not keep pace with McIntosh and even lost ground on the closing freestyle leg, but she ended up touching in 4:33.40 to secure silver. Grimes, the silver medalist behind McIntosh at the 2022 and 2023 World Championships, reached the Olympic podium for the first time after taking fourth in the 800 free in her Olympic debut three years ago.
Her U.S. teammate Emma Weyant, the silver medalist three years ago in Tokyo, returned to the podium with a bronze. Weyant moved up from fifth place at the halfway point to fourth after breaststroke and then running down Great Britain’s Freya Colbert on the freestyle leg, touching in 4:34.93. Colbert ended up fourth in 4:35.67.
The medal was the second one McIntosh has earned at these Paris Games after she earned silver on the opening night of competition in the 400 free behind Ariarne Titmus. “Trying to continue that momentum and get better as the meet goes on was definitely one of my goals,” McIntosh said. Moving forward, she will be favored to add to her medal collection in the 200 fly, where she is favored for gold, and in the 200 IM, where she is one of four primary contenders for the top spot.
The 5.69-second margin of victory was the largest in 40 years, since the United States’ Tracy Caulkins beat Australia’s Suzie Landells by 9.06 seconds at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. But McIntosh winning by such an amount was no surprise, not after she won gold at last year’s World Championships by more than four seconds and considering she entered as the top seed by a whopping seven seconds. Only one other active swimmer, Australia’s Kaylee McKeown, has ever broken 4:30, and she did not bother competing in the race at her country’s Olympic Trials.
Entering an Olympic final as a huge favorite brings along significant pressure and expectations, but that did not rattle McIntosh. Just another way she is perfectly equipped to excel at this level.
“I think just because I have been doing this since I was 14,” McIntosh said. “Obviously, the Olympics was very different back in Tokyo three years ago. Every single time I race on the world stage, I learn more about handling mentally and physically and emotionally and trying not to get too high or too low depending on the race results. Obviously, I’m super happy with the result, but now I’m all about the 200 fly on day five.”
Summer McIntosh reacts after winning Olympic gold — Photo Courtesy: Andrea Masini / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
Entering the Games, McIntosh had twice lowered the world record, and it was not exactly an easy one she inherited: Katinka Hosszu had clocked 4:26.36 in winning gold at the 2016 Olympics, and prior to McIntosh’s arrival, no one had come within two seconds of that mark. But as McIntosh reached the sub-4:30 club as a 15-year-old, the prospect of her reaching that mark crystalized.
But break the record as quickly as she did, no way. But at the 2023 Canadian Trials, McIntosh delivered an astounding time of 4:25.87. How much faster could she get? Apparently, a lot, with significant year-to-year improvement on breaststroke helping McIntosh knock a further one-and-a-half seconds from the mark at this year’s Trials, where her final time was 4:24.38.
Even without reaching that lofty standard in Paris, McIntosh provided a joyous moment for an entire country as she earned a Canadian gold medal in women’s swimming for the third consecutive Games. Before Penny Oleksiak won the 100 free in 2016 and Maggie Mac Neil topped the 100 fly in 2021, no Canadian woman had reached the podium at all for four consecutive Games.
Backstroker Kylie Masse, who has captured four medals over the last two Games, watched McIntosh race her medley final before taking fourth in the 100 back semifinals. Masse believes that, for Canada, McIntosh “means the world. I think she’s an inspiration to everyone, and I know to so many young swimmers in Canada to be able to see her and see her success here on the international stage is knowing for them that they can dream big and continue to do whatever they put their mind to. She’s already been an inspiration, and I know she’ll continue to be.”
That’s a role that McIntosh, far wiser and more cognizant than an average 17-year-old, eagerly embraces. “I just hope that anyone watching back home, I try to inspire as many young kids as possible,” McIntosh said. “I hope they know if I can do it, they can do it, too. I was once in their shoes watching the Olympics, and now I’m here, eight years later. I hope to inspire them as much as possible.”
Summer Time has begun!
Be interesting to see her next two individuals. Hope she wins the 200m Butterfly and gets silver behind Kaylee in the 200m IM!
So this morning (Aussie time) we’ve heard several national anthems but not the Star Spangled Banner.
VERY REFRESHING!