Cate Campbell is gone, and sister Bronte was confined to the heats, but Australia’s 4x100m freestyle women are as dominant as ever, winning their fourth consecutive gold medal at the Paris Olympics on Saturday night.
The team of Mollie O’Callaghan, Shayna Jack, Emma McKeon and Meg Harris maintained Australia’s supreme record ahead of the US and China in an Olympic record time of 3:28.92.
McKeon, the stateswoman of the team, surpassed Ian Thorpe as Australia’s most successful Olympian with six gold medals, prompting Thorpe to say from the Nine commentary box that his mantle couldn’t be inherited by a more deserving person.
In O’Callaghan, Australia appear to have another generational talent. She missed out on the final in Tokyo as a 17-year-old despite swimming a sizzling time in the heats; three years later her lead-off leg meant no one was going to catch the Australians.
Then there is Jack, who has been to some dark places while serving a two-year doping ban despite a finding that she had not intentionally ingested a prohibited substance. Now she is an Olympic gold medallist.
The fact heat swimmers Bronte Campbell and Olivia Wunsch sat out the final, and that McKeon didn’t qualify for an individual 100m berth, showed why Australia’s depth in women’s sprint swimming is the envy of the world.
Harris brought them home, continuing a night of heavy medalling in the pool in front of 17,000 fans at Paris La Defence arena. Ariarne Titmus’ gold medal was safely around her neck, Elijah Winnington was celebrating silver in the men’s 400m freestyle, and Australia’s men were getting ready to give their 4x100m freestyle final an almighty crack.
The team of Jack Cartwright, Flynn Southam, Kai Taylor and Kyle Chalmers won silver behind the US, and for a few moments during Chalmers’ gutsy anchor leg the Australians in the stands might have dared to dream of a Sydney Olympics-style upset. Instead, Caeleb Dressel powered the US home in 3:09.28. Italy took the bronze.
