NANTERRE, France — American swimmer Alex Walsh was disqualified from Saturday’s women’s 200-meter individual medley for not completing the backstroke leg fully on her back, a World Aquatics representative confirmed.
In the race consisting of 50 meters of each stroke — butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle — Walsh flipped too far onto her stomach going into the backstroke-to-breaststroke turn, rather than finishing the leg completely on her back, video replay also shows.
Walsh, a 23-year-old who took the silver medal in this event in Tokyo, initially finished the race third to win a bronze medal before being disqualified. She was not made available to the media after the race.
Canadian swimmer Summer McIntosh won her fourth medal and third gold at the Paris Olympics, finishing first in the event at Paris La Défense Arena.
McIntosh earned the gold in an Olympic-record time of 2:06.56, out-touching American Kate Douglass, who touched the wall in 2:06.92. Australia’s Kaylee McKeown (2:08.08) was elevated to bronze after Walsh’s disqualification.
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McIntosh has been one of the swimming stars in Paris after winning gold medals in the 400 individual medley and 200-meter butterfly and silver in the 400-meter freestyle. Douglas had won gold earlier this week in the 200-meter breaststroke and earned silver with the U.S. women’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay team. Bronze medalist McKeown swept the backstroke events earlier this week to make Australian swimming history.
