Canadian teenager Summer McIntosh grabbed her first Olympic medal, taking silver in the women’s 400 metres freestyle on Saturday, but had precious little time to savour the moment before diving back into the La Defense pool less than an hour later.
McIntosh realised the Olympic potential that was promised at the Tokyo Games three years ago, where she narrowly missed out on a podium and came home fourth at the age of just 14.
She comes to Paris still a fresh-faced 17-year-old - but also a battle-hardened four-time world champion and 400 individual medley world record holder.
That talent came to life on the Olympic stage on Saturday as the Canadian teen pushed Australia’s Ariarne Titmus all the way to the gold and finished ahead of American great Katie Ledecky in a showdown that had been hyped as the women’s “Race of the Century”.
