Penton: McIntosh-Ledecky clash would be Olympic highlight
By Bruce Penton
What has the potential to be the most dramatic head-to-head competition at the Paris Olympics might not happen.
Canada’s Summer McIntosh, only 17, recently snapped American Katie Ledecky’s winning streak in the 800-metre freestyle and if the two were to face off in the Olympic pool on Saturday, Aug. 3, when the 800-metre final is scheduled, it would be must-see TV.
But it’s unlikely to happen, since Toronto’s McIntosh is apparently not going to compete in the 800 metres, leaving the gold medal virtually unchallenged around the neck of Ledecky.
Back in February, McIntosh stunned the 27-year-old Ledecky by not only winning the 800-metre final at a meet in Orlando, but touching the wall almost six seconds ahead of the U.S. star, who joins Mark Spitz and Michael Phelps on the Mount Rushmore of U.S. swim stars. In a sport where winners and losers are usually decided by hundredths of a second, a six-second victory is a runaway. Until that race, Ledecky had owned the world’s best 30 times in the 800 metres, and hadn’t been beaten in her specialty in an astounding 13 years.
The hype machine wouldn’t have to be turned up very high to attract a record TV audience for a McIntosh-vs.-Ledecky 800-metre showdown, but the Canadian swimmer will likely bypass the 800 and concentrate on her specialty events — the 400-metre individual medley, the 400-metre freestyle and the 200-metre butterfly. McIntosh has five of the world’s fastest times ever in the 400 IM.
Skipping the 800-race would in all likelihood give the gold to Ledecky, which would be her fourth Olympic gold in that event. She would join Phelps as the only swimmers to win a single event in four different Olympic Games.
McIntosh grew up in a swimming family. Her mother swam in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. She started swimming competitively at age 8, and idolized Ledecky, 10 years older. A story in The Athletic said McIntosh had posters of Ledecky hanging on her bedroom wall.
It’s almost a given that this will be the last Olympic Games for Ledecky, who would be 31 in 2028, which means it will be the last chance for an 800-metre showdown between the two swimming superstars. The McIntosh team hasn’t finalized the Canadian swimmer’s schedule, and says competing in the 800-metres remains a possibility.
The Athletic reported that Ledecky, McIntosh and world champion Ariarne Titmus are scheduled to swim in the 400-metre freestyle on the first day of the swim competition. The second-last day of the swimming events is Aug. 3 and what a spectacular near-finale it would be for McIntosh and Ledecky to go head to head in the 800.
Meanwhile, Canada should make a big splash in the pool thanks to the talents of Maggie Mac Neil and our county’s most decorated Olympian, Penny Oleksiak. Mac Neil won three medals at the Tokyo Olympics, including gold in the 100-metre butterfly.
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