Australia’s Kaylee McKeown has delivered a swimming masterclass at Paris 2024, defending her Olympic 100m backstroke title in an epic race with the USA’s Regan Smith.
McKeown then delivered a post-race interview complete with what has now become her trademark – a naughty word that’ll once again have television stations searching for the bleep button.
The race was billed as a head-to-head clash between McKeown and Smith, the former and current world record holders who between them have produced the ten fastest times in history.
But it was the USA’s other swimmer in the final, Katharine Berkoff, who got the fastest start, leading onlookers to wonder if a boilover was on the cards.
McKeown and Smith worked their way into the race and at the halfway mark it was the American who was at the front, alongside Canadian surprise packet Kylie Masse.
McKeown stuck to her race plan and it soon became a head-to-head battle between her and Smith, the two swimmers the world had come to watch – and the battle did not disappoint.
The pair went stroke for stroke before the Australian powered home over the last 20 metres to deliver another stunning victory, backing up her gold medal in the same event in Tokyo. McKeown finished 0.33 seconds ahead of Smith in a time of 57.33, good enough for a new Olympic record. Berkoff won bronze.
If McKeown can repeat the feat in the 200m backstroke later this week, she will become the first Australian of either gender to win back-to-back Olympic titles in two individual events.
The 23-year-old then made an eloquent and emotional tribute to her family, and particularly her father who passed away just before the Tokyo Olympics.
“I’m not going to swear but we can all put words together,” McKeown told the Nine Network, in a callback to the famous celebratory “f— yeah” she dropped during her post-race interview after winning gold in Tokyo.
“I believe I have a superpower and that’s my dad. He’d be extremely proud. I know that he’s here in spirit.”
Asked if she had a message for the rest of her family, who were in the stands at La Defense Arena in Paris, McKeown immediately and hilariously reneged on her promise not to swear.
“No words can really amount to how much I appreciate their support. They deal with a lot of shit, so thank you for that.”
It’s enough to make a statesman like Ian Thorpe blush, but the Olympic legend went on to provide one of the best lines of commentary we’ve seen so far in Paris.
“You said she had an opportunity for a double-double,” Thorpe said. “It might be double trouble for everyone else.”
If not everyone else, at least the producers at Nine.
Australia’s other swimmer in the race, Iona Anderson, finished fifth in a time of 58.98.
The Roarhttps://https://ift.tt/zOGhAUb of the Day: ‘Double trouble!’ McKeown’s sweary backstroke masterclass as insane Olympic record looms
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