Tokyo Olympics 2021: Kaylee McKeown powers Australia to gold in women’s 4x100m medley
Breakout swim star Kaylee McKeown has delivered a parting gold medal gift to teammate and retiring legend Emily Seebohm, solidifying the pair’s unbreakable bond.
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Kaylee McKeown signed off from her first Olympics with a final parting gift for the woman who helped inspire her to become Australia’s new backstroke Queen.
McKeown has been one of the breakout stars in Tokyo, collecting three gold medals and a bronze.
She is also the swimmer who made headlines for accidentally dropping the F-bomb on national television when she was trying to explain how excited her family would be about her sensational win.
But it’s her unbreakable bond with the retiring Emily Seebohm that has been one of the inspirations behind her stunning success in Japan.
But, on Sunday, in the last women’s race in Tokyo, she played a big part in providing Seebohm with the best farewell present of all – a gold medal, in the 4x100m medley.
Although McKeown swam the backstroke leg in the final, Seebohm will also get a gold medal because she swam the heats.
It’s the third gold medal of her career after she also won relay golds at Beijing (2008) and London (2012), but this was the most unexpected.
Now 29, Seebohm’s long international career seemed over when she missed selection for the 2019 world championships, so she approached master coach Michael Bohl and asked him if she could join his squad.
“She came and had a meeting with me and I said, ‘Look Em, I’m not interested in coaching someone to their fourth Olympics’,” Bohl said.
“If you’re going to train here, you’ve got to be wanting to try and get yourself on the podium.
“You’re a podium athlete, you’ve done it before and, unless you’re wanting to get on the podium, I’m not interested in coaching you.’
“And she said: ‘I’m all in’.”
ROOKIE WHO SHRUGGED OFF WEIGHT OF A NATION
The medley relay hinged particularly on one leg – that of the largely unknown 20-year-old Chelsea Hodges.
Hodges, from the Gold Coast, was the unheralded member of the team, joining the three golden girls of the swim team, Kaylee McKeown, Emma McKeon and Cate Campbell.
For the team to crack the highly fancied Americans, the breaststroke leg of Hodges was key. Hodges took up the challenge with relish, wanting to bury the disappointment of her 100m breaststroke, in which she was fifth in the semi-final.
Even with the timing disadvantage of the flying start, Hodges clocked more than a second quicker in the relay final. Head coach Rohan Taylor said they were “hopeful’’ Hodges could close the “massive gap’’ on paper to US swimmer Lydia Jacoby.
He said: “She went 1:05.5 which is just huge, and that gave us the position to dive in at the same time. When somebody does that, it is really special.’’
Emma McKeon was thrilled: “Chelsea was amazing and she’s got an Olympic gold medal which is her first – she’s never got an international medal before, and now she gets a gold at the Olympics.’’
It’s easy to spot Hodges at the end, she’s the one jumping up and down on pool deck.
HOW GOLDEN GIRL MCKEOWN’S NO.1 FAN HEALED HER HEART
It was hard to tell who was more relaxed – the cool, calculating Olympic champion or the sausage dog who mended her broken heart.
As Kaylee McKeown purposely, patiently sat midfield before storming to her second Olympic backstroke title her family brought a treasured ally to watch the telecast at the parents and friend hub in Noosa.
Not that the dachshund named Ottis was overly moved by the occasion.
As the room erupted in celebration Ottis looked up at the screen with a curious indifference as if he was waiting for the cartoons to come on. Later he jumped off the sofa to have a random chew of a boxing kangaroo.
“That’s the funny thing,’’ said Kaylee’s elder sister Taylor, herself an Olympian.
“He has no idea of how famous his owner is or what she has just done.’’
Not that Ottis’ role in McKeown’s life should be underestimated.
Kaylee bought him two years ago and before and since her father Sholto died of brain cancer 11 months ago Ottis gave her the comfort that only family pets can do.
“Ottis was a cuddle pet for Kaylee after dad’s death and she was lucky to have him in that time,’’ Taylor said.
“Kaylee got Ottis as a puppy and not only was he very close to Kaylee he was dad’s dog as well. Every time dad would come home from work the dog would not leave him alone. Kaylee shared that bond with Ottis and dad.
“Ottis and Kaylee are really close. They do everything together. The only time they are apart is when she goes to the pool. He is her little sidekick and the cute thing about today was that he had no idea at all what was going on.’’
In the nicest possible way Taylor refers to her younger sister as an “animal’’ because softer words don’t fully capture the torture she puts herself through at training.
She has been driven to victory by the memory of her late father and confided in her sister and mother Sharon that there are times in races when her tank seems empty but her father seems to fill it.
“She is next level athleticism. She is so calm and it was a great effort for her to keep her composure after all the pressure on her after her 100m win.
“She is an animal. When we trained together I was the lion and she was the lion cub in the squad. I always tried to find a way to lift and make the sessions harder than what they were supposed to be and Kaylee has picked that up and is doing the same thing if not better.
“That is carrying over now in the way she races. It takes a tough athlete to do what she did. It is a dog eat dog world out there. Lucky she is top dog.’’
And has a top dog as well.
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Originally published as Tokyo Olympics 2021: Kaylee McKeown powers Australia to gold in women’s 4x100m medley
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