Canadian teenager Summer McIntosh claimed her second gold medal of the Paris Olympics with another dominating performance, romping to victory in the 200m butterfly Thursday night while dealing American Regan Smith another runner-up finish.
China’s Zhang Yufei, the reigning Olympic champion and of nearly two dozen swimmers from her country who tested positive for a banned substance ahead of the Tokyo Games but were allowed to compete, pushed the pace over the first half of the race. She couldn’t hold on.
McIntosh powered to the lead on the third 50 and left no doubt on the closing lap. She touched in an Olympic-record of two minutes, 3.03 seconds.
Smith passed Zhang as well, but had no chance of chasing down the 17-year-old who has established herself as one of the biggest stars at La Defense Arena.
Toronto’s Summer McIntosh won the women’s 200-metre butterfly title, capturing her second gold and third medal overall at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
McIntosh, who hails from Toronto, opened the Games with a silver medal in the 400 freestyle, finishing ahead of Katie Ledecky, and blew away the field in the 400 individual medley.
This was another rout. Smith touched in 2:03.84 for the fourth silver medal of a career, while Zhang held on for the bronze in 2:05.09.
McIntosh joined George Hodgson in 1912 and Alex Baumann in 1984 among Canadian swimmers who achieved double gold at an Olympic Games.
Watch Summer McIntosh receive her second gold medal after winning the Olympic women’s 200-metre butterfly title.
She will return to the pool later as part of Canada’s women’s 4x200m freestyle relay team at 4:03 p.m. ET, and will also race in the 200-metre individual medley event, starting Friday.
McIntosh previously struck gold in the women’s 400m individual medley and earned silver in the 400m freestyle event in Paris.
Kylie Masse of Lasalle, Ont., advanced to the women’s 200m backstroke finals on Thursday, setting the fifth best time overall in the semifinals.
Toronto’s Josh Liendo was 9th in the men’s 50m freestyle semifinals and will take part in the event’s final if one of the eight qualified athletes pulls out of the race.
Other Canadian swimming action on Thursday:
- The women’s 4x200m freestyle relay team final at 4:03 p.m. ET
- Finlay Knox in the men’s 200m individual medley semifinal at 3:55 p.m. ET