Summer McIntosh named Canada's athlete of the year

December 10, 2024 - 2:55pm

Summer McIntosh joins Dan Shulman and Joe Siddall in the Toronto Blue Jays broadcast booth to discuss her amazing experience at the Paris Olympics, where she became the first Canadian to win three gold medals at a single Olympics.

On the heels of one of the best Olympic performances in the country’s history, Summer McIntosh has been named Canada’s athlete of the year.

As expected, the 18-year-old Toronto swimmer received the Northern Star Award on Tuesday following her four-medal, three-gold performance in Paris.

McIntosh was the winner in voting by a media and expert panel. The other finalists were Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers, Natalie Spooner of the Toronto Sceptres, Olympic hammer throw champ Ethan Katzberg and Shai Gilgerous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder

McIntosh becomes the first swimmer to win since fellow Torontonian Penny Oleksiak captured the award following her breakout performance at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Considered Canada’s top bet for multiple medals in Paris, McIntosh lived up to very high expectations. She won gold in the women’s 200-metre butterfly, 200-metre individual medley and 400-metre IM, along with silver in the 400-metre freestyle.

Three fourth-place finishes in relays meant McIntosh narrowly missed breaking or tying the record for most medals won by a Canadian at an Olympics – five by speed skater Cindy Klassen in 2006.

McIntosh was named Northern Star winner shortly after setting a world record in the 400-metre freestyle at the short course world championships in Hungary.

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