Emma McKeon has cemented herself as swimming’s sprint queen after claiming gold in the women’s 100m freestyle at the Tokyo Olympics ahead of her great friend Cate Campbell.
The 27-year-old bounced back from the disappointment of the women’s 4x200m relay on Thursday and fought off teammate Campbell and Hong Kong’s rising star Siobhan Haughey to win her second gold medal of the Games.
McKeon led from start to finish in the race, breaking another Olympic record after setting the competition’s fastest ever time earlier during her heat.
Campbell told the gold medallist: ‘I’m so happy for you’ as the pair embraced in the pool immediately after her win.
‘I can’t believe it, it doesn’t feel real. I can feel my emotions bubbling up now,’ McKeon said following the race.
‘It’s been a rollercoast this week, my emotions are all over the place and I know my family are back home watching. I felt them with me during the race and they’re part of it all.’
The six gold medals in the pool so far equals Australia’s third-best performance in Olympic history.
McKeon and Campbell are the two favourites to take out the 50m freestyle still to come.
Emma McKeon has cemented herself as swimming’s sprint queen after claiming gold at the Tokyo Olympics ahead of her great friend Cate Campbell
The 27-year-old bounced back from the disappointment of the women’s 4x200m relay on Thursday and fought off teammate Campbell and Hong Kong’s rising star Siobhan Haughey to win her second gold medal of the Games
McKeon now has two gold and two bronze medals at Tokyo, giving her eight career Olympic medals, one shy of Ian Thorpe’s Australian record.
The sprint queen still has three events left as she looks to become the most decorated Olympian in the country’s history.
Only Thorpe, Shane Gould and Alicia Coutts have won five medals at one Olympics.
McKeon finished ahead of four-time Olympic veteran Campbell who claimed bronze, the seventh Olympic medal of her career.
The duo previously won gold together in the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay, an event Australia has dominated winning three-consecutive Olympic golds.
Haughey, who narrowly lost out to Ariarne Titmus in the women’s 200m freestyle, claimed her second silver medal at the Games.
McKeon led from start to finish in the race, breaking another Olympic record after setting the competition’s fastest ever time earlier during her heat
Two-time Olympic gold medallist Ariarne Titmus has admitted she’s ‘absolutely buggered’ as Australia’s Golden Girl has one final run at a medal
The win comes after their teammate and fellow star Aussie swimmer Ariarne Titmus revealed she is ‘absolutely buggered’ as Australia’s Golden Girl has one final run at a medal.
Titmus, who has become the star of the country’s Tokyo Games, admitted she’s feeling the emotional and physical strain of her first games and carrying the hopes of a nation.
‘It’s a big day today. I had one and a half hours in my room today. I’m absolutely buggered,’ Titmus told Channel 7.
‘Honestly I’m exhausted. I keep thinking back to Beijing, it was the same as this morning’s heats. Phelps won eight golds. I have done two and I’m wrecked.
‘It puts into perspective for me how amazing he was. I’m going to rest up as much as I can and get ready for my last race at the Olympics.’
The 20-year-old Tasmanian, who won gold in the women’s 200m and 400m freestyle over American superstar Katie Ledecky, paid tribute to her arch-rival for keeping her going.
‘I love racing Katie. It is nice to be on my own a little bit. It’s been really good this week. We’ve been getting along really well,’ Titmus said.
‘We’ve really enjoyed racing each other. I mean, we don’t get to do it often. It’s so fun for us to be able to race. So, I am looking forward to two days’ time.’
Titmus swum first in Australia’s 4x200m relay on Thursday, followed by McKeon, who were red hot favourites for the event but instead came third in a lineup that confused legends Ian Thorpe and Giaan Rooney.
Australia were stunned in the final of the women’s 4x200m freestyle with China and the USA hunting down the strong favourites and the country’s Golden Girls
Titmus, who has become the star of the country’s Tokyo Games, admitted she’s feeling the emotional and physical strain of her first games and carrying the hopes of a nation
Ariarne Titmus confusingly led the race followed by sprint queen Emma McKeon, Madison Wilson and Leah Neal – none of whom featured in the heat
Just before the race, Aussie swimming Thorpe said he was confused with the team’s line-up as Titmus stepped up to the blocks.
‘I’m a little curious about the order they are swimming in,’ the nine-time Olympic medallist said.
Former Olympic gold medallist Giaan Rooney echoed his sentiment, saying it was a ‘big miss’ to have O’Callaghan out of the team.
‘I don’t know for sure but I think the idea was for both Titmus & McKeon to swim fast but ‘comfortably’ up front (they both have individual events left) & to have enough of a lead after Wilson for Neale to anchor – biggest miss was Mollie O – 1.55.10 in the heat,’ she tweeted following the race.
‘Would love to know the thought process behind it.’