Kaylee McKeown captured in beautiful gesture for young girl after triumph at Olympics
McKeown's classy act came after she successfully defended one of her Olympic backstroke titles.
Kaylee McKeown captured the hearts of a nation and gave one young fan a special moment she'll never forget after successfully defending her 100m backstroke title at the Paris Olympic Games. McKeown beat American rivals Regan Smith and Katharaine Berkoff to claim the gold medal after clocking 57.33 to set a new Olympic record.
The victory saw McKeown defend her title in the event after also winning gold at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. She became the fourth Aussie woman to defend a title at the Olympics after following in the footsteps of teammate Ariarne Titmus, Dawn Fraser and Shirley Strickland. The 23-year-old is also just the second athlete to defend the 100m backstroke title after American Natalie Coughlin (2004 and 2008).
McKeown proved once again that she's a cut above in the pool but also showed how great a champion she is out of the water, with a beautiful gesture for a young fan. The Aussie was soaking up the adulation from the crowd inside a packed Paris La Défense Arena after being presented with her gold medal, a box containing a Paris-themed poster and a stuffed boxing kangaroo.
The Aussie champion conducted her victory lap and showed her appreciation for friends, family and supporters watching poolside, when she spotted a young girl named Imogen in the crowd. McKeown made a beeline for the young supporter and handed over her boxing kangaroo as a special keepsake that Imogen will surely never forget.
Host broadcaster Channel Nine caught up with the youngster after the beautiful gesture from the swimming champion and she was clearly over the moon. “Kaylee was walking around and she saw me and she came over and gave me this kangaroo,” Imogen told Nine. “She’s a really good swimmer and... when I think of an Australian swimmer, I think of her. And it’s really cool that she could give it to me.”
McKeown also gave a classy post-race interview in which she paid tribute to her late father Sholto, who passed away in 2020 after a battle with brain cancer and never got to see his daughter win Olympic gold. "I like to think I have a little bit of a superpower and that's my dad," McKeown told Channel 9 after the race. "I am just over the moon. He would be extremely proud of me ... I know that he's here in spirit."
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The 23-year-old's mum and siblings were in the crowd to cheer McKeown on in Paris and threatened to upstage the Olympic champion with an interview to match her epic achievement. Speaking to Channel 9 after the race, McKeown's mother, sister and two brothers were ecstatic. Mum Sharon admitted she was a nervous wreck after watching her daughter swim into Aussie history off the back of a late surge to victory.
"She turned fourth, but she's always got a good back end," she said. "We're glad that she pulled it off." Sharon said late husband Sholto would have had some choice words if he could have seen Kaylee's triumph. "He would have been saying F-yeah!" she added.
McKeown also had her own hilarious moment at the end of her interview after being asked about her father and how he would have reacted to her momentous feat. The 23-year-old tried to keep her emotions in check and promised not to swear, only to suffer a slight slip of the tongue as the occasion got the better of her.
“I’m not going to swear but we can all put words together. He’d be extremely proud," she added about her late dad. "It’s great to have my family here because I know that he’s here in spirit. No words can really amount to how much I appreciate (my family’s) support. They deal with a lot of s***, so thank you for all of that," McKeown said before realising she'd just sworn.
McKeown collected gold in both the 100m and 200m backstroke events in Tokyo three years ago, and will begin the defence of her 200m crown in Thursday's heats and semi-finals, ahead of Friday's medal race. McKeown has also added the 200m individual medley to her program in Paris, with the final of that event on Saturday.
The 23-year-old is also likely to feature in Australia's team in the medley final on the last day of competition on Sunday. It means McKeown is a red-hot chance of leaving Paris with four gold medals if all goes to plan, in what would be a record Olympic Games haul for an Aussie athlete.
