Kaylee McKeown has cemented her legendary swimming status with another individual gold medal, while putting herself firmly in a fast-developing race to become Australia’s most decorated Olympian.
McKeown claimed a thrilling come-from-behind victory in Wednesday morning’s (AEST) 100m backstroke final to become just the third Australian woman — behind Dawn Fraser and Ariarne Titmus — to successfully defend an individual Olympic title.
It was McKeown’s fourth career gold medal and there are likely more to come. The 23-year-old will also compete in the 200m backstroke and 200m individual medley in Paris this week, along with the relays, giving her a realistic shot at matching or beating Emma McKeon’s Australian record mark of six career gold medals.
McKeown is not alone, with Mollie O’Callaghan (four gold medals) and Titmus (three gold) already adding individual gold medals in Paris to close in on McKeon (six gold) and Thorpe (five) on the all-time list.
However McKeon and Thorpe’s tallies are boosted by relays. McKeown and Titmus are therefore within striking distance of the all-time Australian record of four golds in individual events. They are currently level with Thorpe, Dawn Fraser, Betty Cuthbert, Shane Gould and Murray Rose as the only Aussies with three individual golds.
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“It’s essentially at the moment, we’ve got Ariarne racing Mollie racing Kaylee to become the greatest (Aussie) Olympian in history,” Aussie swimming great James Magnussen said on the Matty & The Missile podcast.
“What an insane scenario. All at the same time at the same Olympics.”
McKeown, 23, has now well and truly regained the throne as the world’s backstroke queen after American rival Regan Smith sent shockwaves by setting a new world record at the Olympic trials.
McKeown, who already has three gold medals from Tokyo to her name, will face off against Smith again in the 200m backstroke, as well as the 200m individual medley. She is also expected to compete in the 4x100m mixed medley relay on Saturday and the 4x100m women’s medley relay on Sunday.
O’Callaghan, meanwhile, will look to add more gold in Thursday morning’s 100m freestyle final while Titmus still has the 800m freestyle and 4x200m freestyle relay on her schedule.
“She (O’Callaghan) did it in the 200m so pressure’s off for her. She’s got her individual gold. She’s already endeared herself to the Australian public. But I believe she’ll double it up,” Magnussen said.
After McKeown claimed gold in the 100m backstroke final in Tokyo three years ago, she delivered an equally golden moment in a post-race interview that became instantly iconic.
Asked what message she had for her family, she roared into the microphone “F*** yeah!”
Recognising her mistake, she sheepishly added: “Oh s**t.”
Three years on, McKeown delivered one of the finest swims of her life to defend her crown in Paris – becoming just the third Australian woman to claim back-to-back golds in an individual event.
Between them, Smith and McKeown own the fastest 15 times in the history of the 100m backstroke. This battle was always going to be epic – especially after their semi-final times were separated by just a couple of hundredths of a second.
The Australian made the turn in fourth, then pulled off a staggering comeback in the second lap to storm home in a surge described by Mat Thompson on Nine as “earth-shattering”.
McKeown matched her PB – from last year’s world championship win – and set a new Olympic record by beating her mark from Tokyo.
Aussie tennis legend Lleyton Hewitt was in the stands alongside current superstar Alex de Minaur. You could almost hear the famous ‘come on’ from Hewitt back in Australia as McKeown touched in first. Smith was second, Berkoff third.
“Kaylee’s one of one. She’s an absolutely incredible racer. And she knows what to do when it matters,” Smith said.
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Unlike Tokyo, McKeown’s mother Sharon and sister Taylor were in the crowd this time around.
But after promising “I’m not going to swear” when she chatted to Channel 9 after her historic win, McKeown couldn’t quite rein it in – though it wasn’t quite the iconic F-bomb from Tokyo.
Speaking of the support of her family, she said: “No words can amount to how much I appreciate your support. They deal with a lot of sh*t, thank you for all of that.”
McKeown’s father Sholto died in 2020 after battling brain cancer. She said: “It is special. I like to think I have a superpower and that’s my dad. I believe he was with me tonight, I’m just over the moon.
“He would be extremely proud. It’s great to have my family here because he would be here in spirit.”
Of her upcoming races left in Paris, McKeown said: “It’s one race at a time.
“I’ve ticked off three boxes so far [heats, semi-finals and final]. And there’s a few more to go hopefully. It’s just a matter of rocking up on the day – step by step.”
With that much gold around her neck, you get the feeling she can swear as much she wants.
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MOST OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALS WON BY AN AUSTRALIAN
Emma McKeon - 6
Ian Thorpe - 5
Dawn Fraser - 4
Murray Rose - 4
Betty Cuthbert - 4
Cate Campbell - 4
Mollie O’Callaghan - 4
Kaylee McKeown - 4
* Ariarne Titmus is among the 15 athletes to have won three career gold
MOST OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALS WON BY AN AUSTRALIAN IN INDIVIDUAL EVENTS
Dawn Fraser - 3
Betty Cuthbert - 3
Shane Gould - 3
Murray Rose - 3
Ian Thorpe - 3
Ariarne Titmus - 3
Kaylee McKeown - 3
