She left her compeition struggling in her wake.Canadian swimmer Summer McIntosh crushed her competitors and earned a gold medal Monday in the 400-m individual medley (IM) event at the 2024 Paris Olympics. McIntosh, 17, claimed Canada’s first medal Saturday after placing second in the women’s 400-m freestyle competition on Saturday. McIntosh won the IM race in 4 minutes, 27.71 seconds, leaving the competition in her wake. Placing a distant second and third are Katie Grimes and Emma Weyant, both representing Team USA. One fan held up a sign that reads, "It's Summertime in Canada."The IM event includes swimming eight laps utilizing four different swimming styles: the butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle.McIntosh is a two-time world champion for the 400-m IM swim, and holds the world record for fastest time to complete the race. She won in 2022 and 2023 but did not compete in 2024 due to the timeframe being too close to that of the Olympics. Canada's national anthem was played twice on Monday. Christa Deguchi won the gold medal in the women’s judo final match, earning Canada's first gold. Team Canada has now collected a total of five medals: gold in swimming and judo, silver in swimming and bronze in synchronized diving and fencing. After the race, McIntosh told the CBC her win "means the world" to know people are looking up to her "for inspiration" and will be encouraged to pursue their own dreams. She added it was "nerve-wracking" to compete in such a high-stakes competition but said when you're in a situation like that, "you channel your energy best as you can."
