Emma McKeon. COURTESY
Australia's Emma McKeon became the first female swimmer to win seven medals at a single Olympics with two more gold’s on Sunday.
She outsprinted the field to win the 50m freestyle before helping Australia win the women's 4x100m medley relay on the final day of the swimming competition in Tokyo. American Caeleb Dressel, meanwhile, powered to victory in the 50m freestyle and swam an inspired butterfly leg in the men's medley relay to finish with five gold medals. Compatriot Robert Finke completed the distance double, mustering a late surge to win the 1,500m freestyle to add to his 800m gold. ‘I've worked so hard for it’. McKeon said. McKeon, 27, will leave Tokyo with four gold medals - two in the individual sprints and two relays. Having already won the 100m freestyle, she added the 50m on Sunday, with Swede Sarah Sjoestroem taking silver and defending champion Pernille Blume of Denmark getting the bronze. She was soon back in the pool for the medley relay, swimming the butterfly leg as veteran Cate Campbell's brilliant final leg pushed the United States into silver.
That gold medal meant McKeon joined Michael Phelps, Mark Spitz and Matt Biondi as the only swimmers to win seven medals at a single Olympics. The only woman to have achieved the feat in any other sport is Soviet gymnast Maria Gorokhovskaya in 1952. American Phelps holds the swimming record of eight medals won at a single Games, doing so at Athens 2004 and in Beijing four years later. “I look at the athletes who have come before me and been so impressed with what they have done and been inspired by what they have done, but I've never really looked at the stats of medal counts,” McKeon said. “It is an honour because I know I've worked so hard for it.”
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