Canada’s Summer McIntosh trailed American Alex Walsh throughout a fabulous four-way 200m medley tussle until overhauling her quarry in the last 25m and grabbing her third gold of the Games.

The 17-year-old Canadian is the first in history from her country to lift the 200IM crown and the first Maple medallist since Marianne Limpert took silver in 1996.

Important to note the trail because the result sheet doesn't show it only six swimmers finished the race with splits by their names.

Walsh, who stopped the clock at 2:07.06, was disqualified for a faulty backstroke-to-breaststroke turn and forfeited the bronze, so the podium went McIntosh 2:06.56 Olympic record, Kate Douglass, the 200m breaststroke champion for the USA, 2:06.92 for silver, and Kaylee McKeown, the Australian who joined Roland Matthes in the backstroke Quad club yesterday, on 208.08.

The battle was punchy, with three of the top four holding sway at turns throughout. Walsh set the pace for three of the four lengths, Douglass also ahead of McIntosh on 'fly before she dropped to sixth on backstroke, the tricky but of her roller-coaster overcome down the third lap.

As it turned out, the writing was on the end wall as McIntosh reached for the last turn a stroke back from Walsh, having kept the big catch-up by breaststroke ace Douglass down the third length by 0.67sec.

Douglass, a sub-52sec 100 freestyler had the edge of speed down the home stretch, her 30.12 dash clawing back 0.31sec of the deficit to McIntosh. No-one else came close to their closing speed and the 17-year-old Canadian ended her solo campaign in Paris one place shy of a Marchand: three golds and a silver.

Walsh was still the champion-in-waiting with 15 metres to go but her pace-setting took a toll and both McIntosh and Douglass crept past between the red buoys. The Canadian celebrated an Olympic record, too: her 2:06.56 sliced 0.02sec off the mark set by triple-crown queen of Rio 2016, Hungarian Katinka Hosszu.

Now McIntosh, coached by Brent Arckey and his team of experts, including the wisdom of Vern Gambetta, at the Sarasota Sharks in Florida, has her own triple crown. She said:

“It’s pretty surreal. I’m just so proud of myself how I was able to recover and manage these events because it is a lot. The reason I’m able to do this is because of all the hard work and dedication I’ve given to this moment, along with all my family and my teammates and coaches that have also worked so hard for me to be here today.”

“I knew at the 150 mark, I might be behind. I couldn’t really see where I was, but I knew that I could just bring it home as best as possible because I do swim the 400 IM, and I know how to work that endurance and have quick transitions. I knew it was going to be a quick race, but I’m happy with the result tonight.”

What a Games for McIntosh: Silver in the 400m freestyle adrift Ariarne Titmus and ahead of Katie Ledecky; Gold in the 400IM by almost 6 seconds; Gold in the 200 'fly ahead of Regan Smith. And then Gold in a 200IM she finished without a single stroke in any of those great swims falling apart before end of play.

The 17-year-old is the first Canadian to claim four solo medals at one Games and the fifth Canadian swimmer to win at least four Olympic medals, joining Penny Oleksiak, Kylie Masse, Victor Davis and Taylor Ruck.

Lest we forget, there was a 1976 generation ion Canadian women at a homes Games who, without the shadow of GDR doping, would have long been in the group of Canadian swimming greats. Cheryl Gibson, a World Aquatics top-tabler these days, was one of them: she would have take 400IM gold, to gteammnate Becky Smith's silver.

And Nancy Garapick. Imagine the uplift of gold in the 100 and 200 backstroke at a home Olympics. No authority at Olympic or domestic level has ever pressed the case for justice and reconciliation. Yet we get nearer all thew time.

Read all about it: Unfair Play by Sharron Davies, wing Craig Lord