After her success at the world swimming championships in June, Canadian teenager Summer McIntosh triumphed again at the Commonwealth Games 2022. The 15-year-old McIntosh, who became the first Canadian to win two gold medals at a single championship in Budapest, easily beat her opposition in the 400-meter individual medley. (More Commonweal Games News)
On a night when several Commonwealth Games records were set and the first positive doping test was announced — a boxer from Ghana has been suspended — McIntosh had a personal best of 4:29.01 in her dominant win.
Australian Kiah Melverton finished 7.77 seconds behind McIntosh for the silver medal. McIntosh is the third-fastest performer in the event’s history and is closing the gap on the world record of 4:26.36 set by Hungarian Katinka Hosszu at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.
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“I was excited to re-do my time from (the) worlds and see what I can do to get better," McIntosh said. "I've been working on a lot of stuff in training so I can execute my 400 IM better than I did at (the) worlds, because I had so much room for improvement, and I still do.”
The Canadian’s triumph split Australian hat tricks, with Ariarne Titmus’s decision to sit out the world championships paying dividends in the 200 freestyle.
Compatriot Mollie O’Callaghan raced at the shoulder of the double Olympic gold medallist throughout but fell short of an upset by less than a second, with Titmus recording a time of 1:53.89. Madison Wilson completed a sweep of medals for Australia when finishing third.
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It was a similar case in the men’s 400-meter freestyle to open the night. Winner Elijah Winnington started the pool party for Australia, with compatriots Sam Short and Mack Horton also finishing on the podium.
Success in the pool, combined with dominance in London in track cycling events, pushed Australia to the top of the medal count on the opening day. The Lee Valley velodrome was the scene of several new Commonwealth Games records on the first day of track cycling.
The Australian women and New Zealand men beat existing records in the respective 4000-meter team pursuits in finals on Friday afternoon.
