W400IM: McIntosh's Record Margin Of Victory Lands Pioneering 4 Golds & A Bronze
"I think it was very obvious that my goal was five golds. Time just didn't matter. I just wanted to get my hand on the wall first five times. I fell short ... but I think it'll keep me hungry ... Even if I were to get five golds, I would still want more. That's just my mentality." - Summer McIntosh
Petra Schneider of the GDR would have finished sixth in the 400m medley at Singapore 2025 World Championships with her 1982 generation-busting 4:36.10 World record.
Why am I reminding you of this? Well, because that's how far we have to go back to find the biggest margin of victory in the event: Schneider thumped her teammate Kathleen Nord by 7.41sec, the bronze to American Tracey Caulkins a further 1.13sec away.
We know how they did it, of course, and that's one of the things that makes today's 'until now' follow-up line so special: with her 4mins 25.78 Championship record, Summer McIntosh confined the GDR's Mind-The-Gap moment to history:
7.48sec (or 2.02 for every 100)
They didn't have champagne waiting for McIntosh when she claimed a record fourth gold plus bronze in the greatest women's 800m race in history yesterday. Pity, for if they had had a butler sent to serve her on poolside, he would have had time to pop the cork, pour the bubbles and offer a toast before Dolphin Jenna Forrester and Japan's Mio Narita stopped the clock in a snap at 4:33.26, a 12-year-old half a second away and 7.98sec adrift the 18-year-old champion - and faster than the 1982 champion fuelled on state harm:
