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Emma McKeon makes Olympic Games history with record haul in Tokyo

sam goodwin
Sports Editor
·4-min read
Emma McKeon won her 10th career medal with gold in the 50m freestyle. Image: Channel 7/Getty
Emma McKeon won her 10th career medal with gold in the 50m freestyle. Image: Channel 7/Getty

Emma McKeon has become the first female swimmer and second in any sport in history to win seven medals at one Olympic Games.

The Aussie star came into the final day of swimming action in Tokyo with five medals for the meet, and won two more on Sunday.

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McKeon won the 50m freestyle in an Olympic record time on Sunday, before helping the 4x100m medley relay women win gold in another Olympic record.

In doing so, McKeon won the 11th Olympic medal of her incredible career, breaking the Australian record held by Ian Thorpe and Leisel Jones (nine).

The 27-year-old from Wollongong won Sunday's 50m final in 23.81 seconds from Sweden's Sarah Sjoestroem (24.07) and Demark's Pernille Blume (24.21).

She then swum the third leg in the medley relay as Cate Campbell clinched the gold with an incredible anchro swim.

The twin victories gave Australia nine gold medals in the pool in Tokyo, beating the previous record for our most successful swimming campaign at an Olympic Games - set in Melbourne in 1956.

McKeon also becomes the first Australian in history to win seven medals at one Olympic Games.

She won four gold medals in Tokyo (100m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle relay, 50m freestyle and 4x100m medley relay), as well as three bronze (4x100m medley relay, 100m butterfly and 4x100m mixed medley relay).

She won four medals at the Rio Olympics in 2016 - gold in the 4x100m freestyle relay, silver in the 4x200m freestyle relay and 4x100m medley relay, as well as bronze in the 200m freestyle.

Emma McKeon, pictured here after winning bronze alongside Kaylee McKeown, Zac Stubblety-Cook and Matthew Temple in the 4x100m mixed medley relay.
Emma McKeon (R) won bronze alongside Kaylee McKeown, Zac Stubblety-Cook and Matthew Temple in the 4x100m mixed medley relay on Saturday. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)

Thorpe won five gold, three silver and one bronze in his illustrious career, while Jones claimed three gold, five silver and a bronze.

“This has most definitely been Emma McKeon's meet. She has been dominant, she's been brilliant, she's been fantastic, and it has been a pleasure to watch," Thorpe said in commentary for Channel 7.

"She skips across the water in a way that we don't often see.

"She's quite slight in her physicality, but the way that she's able to move through the water is impressive.”

McKeon also became just the fourth female swimmer of all time to complete the 50-100m freestyle golden double at an Olympics.

Emma McKeon always destined for greatness

As a teen, McKeon was almost lost to the sport.

"As I got a bit older I started to put a bit too much pressure on myself and lost my enjoyment for it pretty quickly," she said after her 100m freestyle victory in Tokyo

"They are all things you have to go through as a teenager coming through swimming."

After temporarily quitting, McKeon returned and has been a fixture on Australia's swim team since the 2013 world championships.

Her father Ron was a dual Olympian, while mother Susie McKeon (nee Woodhouse) swam at the 1982 Commonwealth Games.

Her uncle Rob Woodhouse, a dual Olympian in 1984 and 1988, won a bronze medal in the 400m individual medley in '84, while older brother David is a dual Olympian who made the 400m freestyle final in Rio.

with AAP

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