Canadian swimmer Summer McIntosh, 17, wins a gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris; Leaving her idol behind

17-year-old Canadian swimmer Summer McIntosh never thought that one day she would leave her idol Katie Ledecky behind in the swimming pool. With her brilliant performance in the Paris Olympics, McIntosh has emerged as the new sensation of swimming. She won gold medals in the 400m individual medley and 200m butterfly events in Paris. There was a time when McIntosh used to hang pictures of America's star swimmer Katie Ledecky on the walls of her room and now in the Paris Olympics, she is establishing her dominance by leaving her behind in every event.

McIntosh said in an interview, that it is an honor for me to compete with Ledecky. Whenever I race with her, I get to learn a lot about swimming. However, initially, I was a little nervous about competing with Ledecky. Talking about a few years ago, I never thought that Ledecky and I would compete together in the same event.

At the age of eight, McIntosh had two paths: either she chose swimming by following in her mother's footsteps or became a figure skater like her sister Brooke. McIntosh's mother Jill had represented Canada in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. In such a situation, she thought it right to follow her mother.

The 400-meter freestyle event was named the Race of the Century in this Olympics. This race was won by Australia's Ariana Titmus, but McIntosh pushed nine-time Olympic gold medalist Ledecky to the bronze medal and placed herself among the best swimmers in the world with a silver medal.