A genuine medal contender in seven events, the records were set to tumble should she deliver on the big stage.

But leading into the Olympics, McKeon flew under the radar.

Instead, the focus was on Ariarne Titmus and her mouth-watering battle with American star Katie Ledecky.

It was on Kyle Chalmers' efforts to defend his men's 100 metre freestyle crown.

It was on Cate Campbell's quest for redemption after her epic choke in Rio five years earlier.

This was exactly how McKeon wanted it.

A shy, reserved athlete, the swimmer prefers to stay out of the spotlight. She had her goals for Tokyo, but they remained largely private.

It was only once the Olympics had concluded that McKeon let her guard down.

bronze medals, the 27-year-old finally revealed how much she wanted it.

"I don't usually say things like this, but I came here and I wanted to win gold," McKeon said at the end of the meet. "I wanted to come here and win and that's what Bohly (coach Michael Bohl) and I worked so hard for and what we had our eyes on.

"For it to be finished and I've got four of them, I can't believe it."

Despite all her success since breaking onto the stage at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, where she won four gold and two bronze medals, McKeon has long been regarded as a relay specialist.

An individual victory at a World Championships and Olympics had thus far eluded her.

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Many had started to question if McKeon was in the elite tier of swimmers capable of standing alone on the top step of the podium.

But the Illawarra talent had spent five years charting a path to glory.

McKeon kicked off her meet with bronze in the 100m butterfly, before she secured a long-desired individual gold in Olympic Record time in the 100m freestyle final.

A second individual win came in the 50m freestyle, while she also added gold medals in the women's 4x100m freestyle and 4x100m medley relays.

After a week in which she won four gold and three

Rounding out her haul were bronze medals in the women's 4x200m freestyle relay and mixed 4x100m medley relay.

In winning seven medals, McKeon became just the second woman, and the first since Soviet gymnast Maria Gorokhovskaya in 1952, to achieve the feat.

She also became the first Australian to win four gold medals at a single Games.

When combined with the one gold, two silver and one bronze McKeon won in Rio, she is now the most decorated Australian Olympian and sits level with Ian Thorpe with five gold medals.

Five months later, the 27-year-old is still processing exactly what happened in a magical nine days in Tokyo.

It's yet to fully sink in, it may never fully sink in.

"I think it's probably sunk in as much as it's going to," McKeon said this week. "It's still pretty surreal to think about what happened there. Just to be reminded is pretty surreal.

"I know me as a person, I won't change, this doesn't make or break my life. It's what I work towards and what I've achieved, but everything else in my life remains the same."

McKeon's success in Japan came as the Australian swim team recorded their most successful Olympics in the pool.

Titmus' battle with Ledecky lived up to the hype, the Queenslander delivering a stunning performance to take out the 400m freestyle final and set the tone for the week ahead.

She then backed it up by edging her American rival in the 200m freestyle final, and picked up silver behind Ledecky in the 800m.

Kaylee McKeown emerged as a future star, taking out the 100m-200m backstroke double in dominant fashion.

Four-time Olympian Cate Campbell achieved a dose of redemption of her own, securing bronze in the women's 100m freestyle final, along with two relay gold medals.

It wasn't the gold medal she chased in Rio, but after a disrupted preparation, the 29-year-old considered it just as sweet.

The men also stood tall, Zac Stubblety-Cook seemingly came from nowhere to win the men's 200m breaststroke final in Olympic Record time.

Overall, the Dolphins finished with 21 medals, including nine gold, the most Australian swimmers have won at a single Games.

Despite the success of the entire team, it was McKeon who took the pool by storm.

"This has been Emma McKeon's meet," Thorpe said on Channel 7. "She's been dominant, she's been brilliant, she's been fantastic."

Jessica Fox

An Olympic gold medal had long eluded the canoe slalom star and Fox looked set for more heartbreak after finishing third in the K1.

This time, however, the Australian had a second shot at gold and she made no mistake, winning the C1 final in dominant fashion.

Logan Martin and Keegan Palmer

The new kids on the block, at opposite ends of the age spectrum, Martin and Palmer claimed the first gold medals handed out in the BMX and skateboard park events, respectively.

Oarsome Foursomes

Wednesday July 28 proved a golden morning for Australia's rowers, the women's four claiming the final in a tense race.

Moments later, the men were racing for gold. Again, the Australian four finished in first place in a thrilling contest and a new Oarsome Foursome was born.

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