It's official - Emma McKeon is Australia's greatest ever Olympics and Commonwealth Games athlete.
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On Monday morning, the Wollongong talent moved past Aussie swimming royalty in Ian Thorpe, Leisel Jones and Susie O'Neill to claim a historic 11th Comm Games gold medal, after securing victory in the 50m women's freestyle
It was McKeon's third gold medal in Birmingham which, following on from her four golds in 2014 and 2018 respectively, makes her the most successful athlete in Commonwealth Games history. The achievement comes after McKeon became the greatest medal winner in Australian Olympic history - surpassing Thorpe and Jones - and the first Aussie to claim four golds at single Games last year in Tokyo.
McKeon's 11th Comm Games gold came in the 50m women's freestyle final on Monday morning.
The 28-year-old got off to a great start and led all the way, holding on to win in a time of 23.99 from fellow Australians Meg Harris and Shayna Jack.
Speaking to Channel Seven afterwards, McKeon was typically modest about the incredible achievement.
"I just get in there and do my best. I take each race one at a time. Obviously when I get in, I want to win - like everyone else in the race. Fifty [freestyle] is a fun event for me," she said.
"I feel like I'm a lot more relaxed this year than last year, I'm a lot happier. And I hadn't done as much work as I had done this time last year. But I think the place that I'm in mentally is showing in my performances.
"It's so nice to have them [family here], my mum and dad are both here. My sister Kaitlin and brother David are back home, but I know they're watching. But it's really nice to have mum and dad here, to be able to celebrate these kind of moments with them. I know it was just as tough on them as it was on me not having them there, so it's nice to be able to share this with them."
Emma's father Ron McKeon spoke to ABC Radio Illawarra on Monday morning, saying that it had been a "wonderful night" for his family.
"I think she was going into the meet really not knowing where it was going to land because she's not raced long course since Tokyo. So she was very nervous on day one of the heats, which was quite surprising for her. So I don't think the statistics [medal record] were necessarily front and centre," Ron McKeon said.
"She just expressed the fact that she had nerves and for her to own up to that was quite something. She probably hasn't described it like that since probably her first big international event since 2013 or something. It was very nice to hear that she still can get nervous, and she is still human," he added with a laugh.
"No one goes and starts a sport thinking that these are the spoils that you're going to achieve. It's about getting in there. All parents of kids who turn up to the pool to swim, or go to basketball or Little Aths, it's purely about them going out there and enjoy something that they love. And if they happen to continue that and get on a professional journey like this, that's next level. And we share that when we're over here in Birmingham with a lot of swimming parents. And We run into parents of other countries and other sports, and we're all the same. We just started with young kids and that's where we've ended up.
"But I think she's still got some goals and unfinished business in some areas of the sport. Every decision that she makes every day is geared around a Paris [2024 Olympics] outcome, whatever that may be."
Earlier in the day, McKeon cruised through her 50m butterfly semi-final in 26.02, which saw her qualify fastest for Tuesday morning's final.
McKeon will look to collect her fourth gold medal of the 2022 campaign, after she previously played roles in Australia claiming gold in the 4x100 freestyle relay and the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay over the weekend.
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