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TOKYO — Kaylee McKeown powered on Tuesday to her first Olympic gold and a third win in three days for a triumphant Australian women's team, launching a thrilling fightback in the 100m backstroke that was within a fingertip of her own world record.
Canada's Kylie Masse took a good lead from the start and held it at the halfway mark but McKeown switched gears out of the turn and clawed back to win in 57.47, with Masse taking silver and American Reagan Smith the bronze.
McKeown's victory puts Australia's swimmers on equal terms with the United States in the gold medal race with three each, turning up the heat in the latest bout of one of the most enduring Olympic rivalries.
Driven by the memory of her father, who died of cancer last year, McKeown's gold medal extends an impressive run of form that made her top-ranked in three events in Tokyo, though she had to withdraw from one due to a schedule conflict.
"It's not necessarily what I have been through, everyone has their own journey. It just so happens I have had a tough time," she said.
"My legs were definitely hurting in the last 20 meters. ... I'm just thankful that I have come away with the position I have."
The 20-year-old Queenslander was just two hundredths of a second shy of the world record she set in the Australian trials in June.
It came off the back of a similar, gritty display on Monday from compatriot Ariarne Titmus, who came from behind to snatch gold from dominant American Katie Ledecky in the 400m freestyle.
"I want to say it's effing awesome. I told her she is an epic legend," said Australian Emily Seebohm, who finished fifth in the race won by McKeown.
"We are her family now," she said of the absence of a celebrating family or crowd in the arena.
McKeown's win will be another blow for American Smith, who set 100m and 200m backstroke world records at the 2019 world championships and surrendered one of her two world records to the Australian last month.
The Olympics medal was also the second for the McKeown family following elder sister Taylor's medley relay silver at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
"Kaylee's a hard worker," Taylor told Australian television.
"She'll push herself until she vomits. She's an absolute animal."
(Reporting by Martin Petty; Editing by Peter Rutherford and Muralikumar Anantharaman)
