Canadian Olympic star swimmer Summer McIntosh just missed out on capturing her fifth medal in the Paris 2024 Games.
The 17-year-old was part of the Canadian women’s 4×100 metre medley relay team alongside Kylie Mass, Sophie Angus, and Maggie MacNeil. McIntosh served as the anchor for the team and while she held second-place going into the final 100 metres, she couldn’t quite hold on to a podium finish.
The Americans took the gold medal with Australia capturing silver and China rounding things out with the bronze. Canada finished in fourth place.
Natation 🏊 : superbe course, mais le Canada 🇨🇦 arrive au pied du podium.
🥇 États-Unis 🇺🇸
🥈 Australie 🇦🇺
🥉 Chine 🇨🇳@RenePothier_RC @benhuot @summermcintoshh @Kjmasse @mags_swims26 @SwimmingCanada @paris2024 @TeamCanada #Paris2024 #rcsports #jeuxolympiques #natation… pic.twitter.com/r0pLqFNFyX— Radio-Canada Sports (@RC_Sports) August 4, 2024
Canada entered the final having posted the second-fastest time in the preliminary heats, being beaten by only the Australians. Yet, an early lead by the Americans and a late push by the Aussies and Chinese were too much for the Canadians to handle.
McIntosh was part of three replacement swimmers who raced for Canada in the final. She, alongside Masse and MacNeil, took the places of Penny Oleksiak, Ingrid Wilm, and Mary Sophie-Harvey who swam in the preliminary heat for Canada.
This ends a historic run by McIntosh at these Olympics, as she finishes with a whopping three gold medals and one silver medal in what was her first-ever appearance at the Games. Those three gold medals are the most by any Canadian Olympian in a single Summer Games.
In total, Canada had a very successful Olympic campaign in the pool, capturing a total of eight medals in swimming events with four different athletes standing on the podium. That is the second-highest total for Canadian swimmers at a single Olympics, tying their total from the 1976 Montreal Games and coming up two short of the 10 that Canada won at the 1984 LA Games.
One thing is for certain, however, as McIntosh has officially become a household name across the country and will now be an inspiration to young Canadian swimmers for years to come.
A fifth medal would have been preferable, but there is absolutely nothing to ashamed of what she has accomplished in her Olympic debut.