Canadian Olympian shows off hilarious fourth-place tattoo and gives great explanation for it
In a kinder world, swimmer Mary-Sophie Harvey might be one of Canada’s most-decorated Olympic athletes.
Only five Canadians have picked up five or more Olympic medals, with Penny Oleksiak and Andre de Grasse leading the way with seven apiece.
But while Harvey has been close to Olympic glory on many occasions, she’s ended up just off the podium in all five of her events.
Competing in the 200m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle relay, 4x200m freestyle relay, and 4x100m medley relay at the Paris 2024 Games, and the 4x200m Freestyle Relay at the Tokyo 2020 Games (which were delayed until 2021 because of COVID-19), Harvey suffered the same cruel fate on four occassions.
But she seems to be making the most of the matter.
Speaking to CBC’s Devin Heroux for a larger feature interview, Harvey showed off the tattoo that she got flexing all her fourth-place finishes, with a series of No. 4s tatted on her arm.
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“I think it’s my lucky number. Why be sad about it? It’s kind of funny,” Harvey laughed. “I was not disappointed with the times, only the position. I know that I can do everything to be where I’m at right now, and I’m enjoying swimming right now, and it’s so much fun.”
Harvey’s career hasn’t been totally absent from hardware on the world stage, though. She’s picked up a pair of medals at the World Aquatics Championships (long-course), while also picking up seven medals at the World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m, competing in a pool half the size of the Olympic length).
She’s part of the team heading to the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, which get underway this coming Friday, July 11.
With any luck, perhaps she’ll be able to avoid the fourth-place curse and wind up on the podium for Canada.
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