‘Just getting started’: US reign again but Dolphins leave Paris with silver linings
By Emma Kemp
Rohan Taylor stopped talking momentarily and looked into the middle distance, where a television screen beamed out a bit more green and gold than you’d normally see in an Olympic pool.
The women’s 4x100m medley relay team had jumped in fully clothed in their Australian tracksuits, and were giggling and generally frolicking about as spectators filed out of La Defense Arena for the final time. Mollie O’Callaghan hopped out and poured water out of one of her sodden shoes before putting it back on.
The Dolphins head coach clocked the celebrations and laughed, then got back to the business of summarising Australia’s Olympics campaign.
You might have assumed the impromptu pool party was celebrating medley relay gold medal. In fact, it was a silver. The race was dead last on the program, and promised to separate the dead heat between Australia and the United States.
Australia led the medal count with seven golds heading into the final day, and had hoped to finish ahead of their biggest rivals for the first time since Melbourne 1956. It took a 1500m world record from Bobby Finke to level the ledger, and then another world record in the women’s medley relay to win the tie-breaker and ensure the Americans continued their streak atop the standings that dates back to Barcelona 1992.
“We ended up one gold short of equalling the US,” Taylor said. “We all know the narrative around that, but we do see them as the standard-bearers and, for us, we just want to be as close as we can to that. I think we showed that we are really competitive.”
It is the closest Australia has come to matching the Americans in 68 years. It is one better than Tokyo, where two gold medals separated the sport’s traditional powerhouses who, for so long, have measured their own success via comparison with the other.
Australia’s 4x100m medley relay silver medal winners Kaylee McKeown, Jenna Strauch, Emma McKeon and Mollie O’Callaghan celebrate after the awards ceremony.Credit: AP
But that enduring barometer is showing the first signs of change. A revealing aspect of that 8-7 tally was not just the number of medals won by the US and Australia, but also the number of medals both were denied by swimmers from other nations.
French 22-year-old Leon Marchand was the undisputed star of the program with four individual golds, under the tutelage of Michael Phelps’ long-time coach Bob Bowman. Canadian 17-year-old Summer McIntosh claimed three, and Sweden’s Sarah Sjoestroem did the 50m-100m freestyle double.
Then there was Chinese 19-year-old Pan Zhanle, who set a men’s 100m freestyle world record by winning the sprint event by more than a second to invite further doping scrutiny of his country (Pan is not among the 23 swimmers known to have tested positive for a banned substance).
Thirteen countries won at least one gold, and 19 made the podium. As American Caeleb Dressel put it: “The wealth is being spread.”
Australian Cameron McEvoy wins gold in the 50m freestyle.Credit: Eddie Jim
Taylor agreed that the rest of the world has caught up. “Absolutely,” he said. “The Europeans were fantastic. The rest of the world is definitely taking medals away from the Americans – and obviously us as well. I think that’s a good thing for swimming, and it helps everyone when the whole world is swimming at a better rate. I don’t know the stats on this, but there’s probably more medals right across [the world] than there ever has been – or at least, it’d be close.”
Overall, Taylor was “super proud of everybody”, particularly given the team had dealt with a COVID-19 outbreak throughout the week. The group was “down on some conversions” but “not far off the mark”.
“I’ll sit back and I’ll look at where we’re going to improve,” he said. “The beauty is we have four years to get to LA, and we’ve got a young team of really good young studs that are coming through.”
The Dolphins’ 18-medal haul – seven gold, eight silver, three bronze – is their third-best return to date, behind Tokyo 2020 (21 medals), Beijing 2008 (20 medals) and Sydney 2000 (18 medals). It is also Australia’s third-best haul of gold medals, behind Tokyo 2020 (nine golds) and Melbourne 1956 (eight golds).
From the 26 of Australia’s 41-swimmer team to leave Paris with medals, several burnt the brightest, including Kaylee McKeown, Ariarne Titmus, O’Callaghan and Cam McEvoy – the sole male to secure an individual gold.
“ I feel like I am kind of just getting started,” said McKeown, who at 23 defended her 100m and 200m backstroke titles and became the first Australian swimmer to clinch four individual Olympic career gold medals. “I am not sure what this next year will hold for me, probably take a bit of time out from the sport just to mentally refresh.”
O’Callaghan, who reigned in the women’s 200m freestyle and 4x100m and 4x200m freestyle relays, is another spark of high promise on the road to LA 2028. “It has been an emotional, draining week,” O’Callaghan said “I need to have good long break ... reset so I can go again.”
Emma McKeon, meanwhile, will retire as Australia’s most successful Olympian with six golds, three silvers and five bronze from three Games.
“It’s not really something I look at,” McKeon said. “That is what you strive for ... but it’s the whole journey along the way that I am going to remember for the rest of my life.”
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