Summer McIntosh wins gold in 200 butterfly, continues ascent to swimming supremacy

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PARIS — Canadian wunderkind Summer McIntosh continued her ascent to the top of swimming with gold in the women’s 200-meter butterfly here at the 2024 Olympics on Thursday.

McIntosh, 17, claimed her third individual medal of the Games and second title. Her victory in the 400-meter individual medley on Monday was her coming-out party on sport’s biggest stage. This was the first of what could be many follow-up acts.

McIntosh won the 200 fly in 2:03.03, beating American Regan Smith and China’s Zhang Yufei, who settled for silver and bronze, respectively.

It was Smith’s fifth Olympic medal, and second of the Paris Games. But the 22-year-old Minnesotan remains in search of her first gold.

McIntosh, on the other hand, is already en route to several. She is to women’s swimming what Léon Marchand is to the men’s side — except that she is five years younger, still unable to legally drink or vote.

Yet she had already won back-to-back world championships in the 200 fly in 2022 and 2023. She has already set world records. She has already won eight medals at worlds.

And she has handled her second Olympics — yes, her second, at age 17 — with remarkable poise. She celebrated her 400 IM rather matter-of-factly.

“I took some time to appreciate the moment,” she said a couple days later. “… But now all I focus on is the 200 butterfly.”

She spoke about the nerves and unpredictability of Olympic finals. “But I’ve actually figured out how to channel that and turn it into a positive thing rather than a negative thing,” she said. She spoke as if she were a 10-year veteran of the sport at the international level. And then, on Thursday night, she swam like one.

She swam like the daughter of an Olympian, which she is. Her mother, Jill, swam at the 1984 Los Angeles Games — in the 200 fly.

On Thursday, McIntosh went nearly 10 seconds faster than her mom ever did. She became the first woman to win three individual medals at these Olympics. She could win a fourth on Saturday in the 200 IM. And she could have won more if the Olympic schedule had been a little more forgiving to her outrageous talent.