Every gold medal performance has a distinct moment or memory.
A great start. A photo finish. A clutch goal. A risk that paid off. For Summer McIntosh, it’ll be domination.
The Canadian showed why she’s the best women’s 400m individual medley swimmer in the world on Day 3 of Paris 2024, easily capturing her first ever Olympic gold medal. With a time of 4:27.71, she finished 5.69 seconds faster than the runner-up, Katie Grimes of the United States.
READ: Summer McIntosh wins 400m IM gold at Paris 2024
“Yes, I did,” said McIntosh when asked if she noticed her lead. “I mean, I don’t see anything until the breaststroke when I took a look around to make sure I was in the lead.”
The 17-year-old led from start to finish. She built a healthy lead in the first half of the final but couldn’t quite shake Grimes. But in the breaststroke portion, McIntosh started to pull away and the gold medal was never in doubt during the final two laps of freestyle.
McIntosh has been building up to this moment over the past couple years. She’s won back-to-back world championships in the event and set a new world record at Team Canada’s Olympic Swimming Trials earlier this year. But with all that comes pressure and expectation. McIntosh, though, appeared cool, calm and collected in her shining moment.
“I think just because I have been doing this since I was 14. I mean, obviously it’s very different back in Tokyo two years ago, but every single time I get to race on the world stage I learn more and more about handling mentally and physically and emotionally. I’m trying not to get too high or too low. So yeah, I mean, obviously I’m super happy.”
McIntosh didn’t swim in individual medley events in Tokyo, only taking part in freestyle races. Since that time, she’s become a force on the world stage.
In her first appearance at the World Aquatics Championships in 2022, she won gold in the 400m IM and, with a time of 4:32.04, broke the world junior record. She successfully defended her title a year later which included setting a world championship record of 4:27.11.
At the 2023 Canadian Swimming Trials, McIntosh set a new world record in the women’s 400m IM with a time of 4:25.87, going almost half a second faster than Katinka Hosszu’s previous mark from 2016. She then broke her own world record at Canada’s 2024 Olympic Trials, posting a time of 4:24.38.
There’s no question that McIntosh was the favourite to win this Olympic gold medal. So is there some relief mixed in with all that joy?
READ: McIntosh captures first Olympic medal in highly anticipated women’s 400m freestyle race
“Absolutely not,” said the Toronto native. “I mean, it’s always just about having fun with it, so. I mean, there’s definitely a lot of anticipation for each race.”
McIntosh had already won a silver medal in the 400m freestyle on Day 1 of Paris – her first Olympic medal. She has two more individual events remaining: the 200m butterfly and 200m individual medley, plus there is the potential for her to compete in relay events.
McIntosh credited her strong start in Monday’s final to the energy in the building – which included her family. That energy will likely continue into her final races in Paris. At just 17 years of age, it’s hard to not look ahead to what she may do at future Games, let alone the next few days.
“Yeah, I mean, I still feel like I’m my 10-year-old self and I’m just trying to solidify all those dreams I had as a kid, and I plan to be in the sport for as long as I can do it.”
