Australia’s backstroke queen Mckeown extends 100m reign

Australia’s Kaylee McKeown successfully defended her Olympic 100 metres backstroke title at the Paris Games on Tuesday, edging out American world record holder Regan Smith in a dominant win in the final at La Defense Arena.

McKeown touched the wall in an Olympic record time of 57.33 seconds, 0.33 seconds ahead of silver medallist Smith. American Katharine Berkoff took the bronze.

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The 23-year-old McKeown became Australia’s first woman to win Olympic backstroke gold at Tokyo and three years later she is the first to go back-to-back.

She now boasts four Olympic gold medals and may add another when she defends her 200m backstroke gold in Paris.