100 metres Butterfly, Women

Sweden’s Sarah Sjöström was the defending gold medallist, a four-time World Champion going back to 2009, and still the world record holder but she was facing a youth movement in Tokyo, led by Canadian Maggie Mac Neil, the 21-year-old 2019 World Champion. American’s Torri Huske and Claire Curzan, 18- and 17-year-olds respectively, had some of the fastest times of the year, with the world list led by China’s Zhang Yufei. Australia’s Emma McKeon, a veteran at 27, was also considered a medal contender.

All the above save Curzan made it to the final, with McKeon and Zhang leading the prelims at 55.82 and Zhang the fastest semi-finalist at 55.89. Zhang also led out the final, followed by Huske, as Sjöström never factored for a medal. Mac Neil also seemed out of it at the turn, ahead of only Sjöström in seventh place, but she would finish the fastest, swimming 29.09 on the inward half, ahead of Zhang’s pace by almost a second, and it would bring Mac Neil the gold medal, 55.59 to 55.64 over Zhang. McKeon, who never really contended for gold, would edge out Huske by 1/100th for the bronze medal.

McKeon won her first individual medal of the Tokyo Olympics, but far from her last. She would later win the 50 and 100 metre freestyle and add four relay medals to equal the female record of seven Olympic medals at a single Olympics, previously set only by Soviet gymnast Mariya Gorokhovskaya in 1952. Zhang was also not done and would return three days later to win gold in the 200 fly.