Australian swimmer Emma McKeon, who won seven medals at the Tokyo Olympics, the most by any athlete, plans to make Paris her final Games, should she qualify at trials.
“I think swimming will always be a part of my life, and it has been for my whole life so far, but this will definitely be my last Olympics, so I’m excited for that,” McKeon told Olympics.com in a video interview.
The Australian team for Paris will be decided at a trials meet in June.
McKeon, 29, won four gold medals and three bronze medals in Tokyo, a haul that included 50m and 100m freestyle wins. She became the second woman to win seven medals in any sport at a single Games.
At last July’s world championships, she placed fourth in the 100m butterfly and fifth in the 50m and 100m frees, plus won three relay medals.
McKeon owns 11 career Olympic medals between Rio and Tokyo, which is one shy of the female swimming record shared by retired Americans Natalie Coughlin, Jenny Thompson and Dara Torres.
Katie Ledecky, going for her fourth Olympics this summer, has 10 medals.
McKeon already owns the most medals for an Australian across all sports and shares the Australian record for career golds — five — with retired swimmer Ian Thorpe.
Lilly King prepares for third Olympic swimming bid with career endpoint in mind
Lilly King plans to continue swimming beyond this summer, but not all the way to 2028.
