Maggie Mac Neil wins Canada’s first gold medal of Tokyo Olympics
Canadian Maggie Mac Neil will never forget her first Olympic gold medal.
Racing in the 100m butterfly final, the London, Ontario-based swimmer had a strong second half of the race with a time of 55.59 seconds to push through for a remarkable gold medal win.
The full race video is here:
A golden swim for Maggie Mac Neil 🇨🇦
Canadian swimmers come up big again winning Canada's first gold medal of #Tokyo2020
Watch live: https://t.co/WrexsnEcRw pic.twitter.com/Gm1Hv0leIU
— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) July 26, 2021
Finishing sixth in the semifinal, the Canadian won the race out of Lane 7. She was, coincidentally, in seventh place at the turn.
An animation from the New York Times shows just how remarkable the comeback was:
Here’s how Margaret MacNeil of Canada took the gold. 🥇 #Tokyo2020 https://t.co/uDuUyVgHyi pic.twitter.com/Ic6r9KLmzY
— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 26, 2021
It is Mac Neil’s second Olympic medal in just under 24 hours, as she was part of Canada’s 4x100m freestyle relay team that won Canada’s first medal of the Games.
Mac Neil didn’t even realize she’d won the gold initially, only noticing that she was atop the leaderboard about seconds after the event concluded.
A golden reaction for a golden moment
Maggie Mac Neil 🇨🇦 wins Canada's first gold medal of #Tokyo2020 in the 100m butterfly
Watch live: https://t.co/WrexsnEcRw pic.twitter.com/NvVJPwOBPA
— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) July 26, 2021
“Oh my God,” she exclaimed.
Canada's first gold medallist of #Tokyo2020 is Maggie Mac Neil pic.twitter.com/iBF5PKSz2Q
— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) July 26, 2021
China’s Zhang Yufei placed in second and landed the silver medal as Australia’s Emma McKeon took home bronze.
Maggie Mac Neil 🇨🇦 'was sure she did something well' when she heard her name after her race
The first time Olympian won Canada's first gold medal of #Tokyo202 🥇
Watch live: https://t.co/WrexsnEcRw pic.twitter.com/DwyjI8zHzp
— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) July 26, 2021
“I heard my name called, so I thought I did something well,” Mac Neil told CBC after the race. “Then I turned around, and was kind of scanning the scoreboard… I don’t think it’ll process for a little while.”
Canada’s newest medalist, who has competed in the past for the University of Michigan, also won the 100 m gold medal at the 2019 World Championships, taking place in Gwangju, South Korea.
“It means the world to have your support,” Mac Neil said about the fans watching back home.
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