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.
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 anchor 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 became the first Australian in history to win seven medals at one Olympic Games and equals Ian Thorpe as the only Australians to win five gold in their career.
She won four gold medals in Tokyo (100m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle relay, 50m freestyle and 4x100m medley relay), as well as three bronze (4x200m freestyle relay, 100m butterfly and 4x100m mixed medley relay).
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.
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.
Source: Yahoo!Sport
