Paris Olympics: Memory of father gives McKeown 'superpower' to retain gold

McKeown retained her 100m backstroke crown from Tokyo, crushing American rival Regan Smith to earn her fourth Olympic gold

By Reuters

Published: Wed 31 Jul 2024, 2:16 PM

Kaylee McKeown lost her father to a terminal illness a year before the Tokyo Games, but his memory continues to drive her to ever-higher achievement at the Olympics.

On Tuesday, McKeown retained her 100m backstroke crown from Tokyo, crushing American rival Regan Smith to earn her fourth Olympic gold medal and join a select group of swimmers with three individual titles.

As ever, McKeown had her father Sholto on her mind as she reeled in Smith and bronze winner Katharine Berkoff during a typically furious final lap.

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"I have a little bit of a superpower and that's my dad ... I know that he's here in spirit," said McKeown.

The 23-year-old Australian has a tattoo on her foot which says "I'll always be with you", the ink added after her father lost his battle with brain cancer.

"He’d be extremely proud. It’s great to have my family here because I know that he’s here in spirit," she said.

"No words can really amount to how much I appreciate (my family's) support.

"They deal with a lot of it, so thank you for all of that."

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McKeown gave Australia their fourth swimming gold of the meet, and the country sits atop the swimming medal table after four days, two titles ahead of their rivals the United States.

A strong medal chance in both the 200 backstroke and 200 individual medley (IM), McKeown would become the first Australian Olympian with four individual golds if she wins either event.

McKeown was disqualified for an illegal turn in the 200 IM at last year's World Championships in Fukuoka and would like to put things to rights in Paris, where she will likely battle Canada's brilliant teenager Summer McIntosh for the gold medal.

"That was definitely a bump in the road," she said of the disqualification.

"At the same time, I dealt with it and I got up there and performed after that.

"As much as it sucked at the time, it's been beneficial to me now because I know I can get through that if it happens again.

"Touch wood it doesn't happen again."