Alex Walsh didn’t get the gold medal she sought in the 200-meter individual medley race.
First, she had to settle for bronze.
Then, she had to settle for nothing at all.
Walsh, after finishing third in the pool, was disqualified for an illegal transition from backstroke to breaststroke, handing a spot on the podium to Australia’s Kaylee McKeown.
Canada’s Summer McIntosh won gold with a 2:06.56 Olympic-record time, while Westchester native Kate Douglass finished with the silver in 2:06.92.
2024 PARIS OLYMPICS
Walsh led all qualifiers in the event during Friday’s semifinal and had won silver in the Tokyo Games.
She reportedly declined to speak with reporters in the mixed zone.
Ironically, McKeown was disqualified at the 2023 World Championship 200-meter IM semifinal race for the same reason, which Swimming Australia called “unjust” at the time, while claiming that Walsh had completed an illegal turn in the finals of that meet.
Walsh’s younger sister, Gretchen, is also competing in Paris and won gold in the mixed 4×100-meter relay.
That was one of just six gold medals the United States has won in swimming, behind Australia’s seven — with four golds to be handed out on Sunday in the last day of the swim competition.
Outside of Katie Ledecky, who won golds in the 800 and 1500-meter freestyle races, and Douglass in the 200-meter breaststroke, the U.S. has largely performed below par, despite leading in the overall medal count.
In particular, Caeleb Dressel’s failure to medal in an individual event after winning three golds in Tokyo was shocking.
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