Post-race disqualification drama sees Kaylee McKeown win another medal at Paris Olympics

Kaylee McKeown has made it three medals in three races after an American rival was disqualified in the aftermath of the 200m individual medley.

Australia’s swim Queen Kaylee McKeown was awarded the bronze medal in the 200m individual medley at the Paris Olympics after one of her biggest rivals was disqualified in a dramatic finish to one of the most anticipated races in the French capital.

Finally showing signs of fatigue after taking on a massive program, McKeown finished the race in fourth position only to be promoted to third when American Alex Walsh was disqualified for an illegal turn while transitioning from the backstroke to the breaststroke legs.

The gold went to Canada’s teenage sensation Summer McIntosh in a time of 2:06.56, a new Olympic record while the silver was won by American Kate Douglass in 2:06.92.

Alex Walsh (L) was disqualified for an illegal touch. Picture: Oli Sscarff/AFP

Swimming from the outside lane after qualifying seventh, McKeown touched the wall in 2:08.08, a second and half outside the Australian record she set at the trials in June, and looked as surprised as anyone when she looked up and saw she had been promoted to third after the referees reviewed the race on video.

Walsh’s team mate Douglass said was unconvinced about the decision to take the medal off her close friend.

“I was really heartbroken for her,” Douglass said. “I felt like she deserved to win that medal, and she deserved to be on the podium with me.

“I’m upset because I don’t know if it was the right call or not, but I can’t really speak on that, I’m not an official. But when it comes to back-to-breast turns like that, we all have our fair share of mistakes and stuff.

“I don’t know if it was worth the DQ. There’s nothing you can say to make it better.”

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McKeown now has four medals in Paris - two gold and two bronze - with the women’s medley relay still to come.

Although she went into the race ranked number one in the world, the individual medley is still a relatively new event for McKeown on the global stage after she withdrew from it at the last Olympics in Tokyo and was disqualified at last year’s world titles.

Her clash with McIntosh was billed as the unofficial race to decide the world’s best female swimmer after McKeown had won the 100m-200m backstroke double and McIntosh the 400m medley-200m butterfly double after finishing runner-up to Ariarne Titmus in the 400m freestyle.

Just 17, but already making her second Olympic appearance after debuting in Tokyo at 14, McIntosh has already been anointed as the biggest threat to Katie Ledecky’s status as the GOAT and she showed everyone the hype is real.

Canada's Summer Mcintosh has lived up to the hype. Picture: Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP

“It’s pretty surreal. I’m just so proud of myself and how I’ve been able to recover and manage events,” McIntosh said.

“There’s been so many before me that have led the way and inspired me to be where I am today. I really owe a lot back to that. I’m just proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish.”

McKeown made a great start, covering the first two laps just 0,01 outside her Australian record time when her massive workload finally began to take its toll and she started to drop back.

Australian teenager Ella Ramsay withdrew from the race just before the scheduled start after contracting Covid, leaving just seven swimmers in the final.

Originally published as Post-race disqualification drama sees Kaylee McKeown win another medal at Paris Olympics