Summer McIntosh competes during a heat in the women's 400-metre freestyle at the 2024 Summer Olympics on July 27 in Nanterre, France. McIntosh picked up her first Olympic medal Saturday with a silver in the women's 400-metre freestyle.David J. Phillip/The Associated Press
There’s no logic to it, but there’s a saying in Olympic circles, among athletes and coaches, that the first medal is the hardest to win. It doesn’t make a lot of sense, but people will look you in the eye and talk about it like it’s the law of gravity.
It’s the accepted wisdom heard in stadium corridors and around training facilities, especially when teams don’t win. And you hear it again when they do – this time with an audible sense of relief attached.
So it was to be expected that much of Team Canada seemingly exhaled in Paris this weekend when 17-year-old swimmer Summer McIntosh touched the wall in time for a silver medal in the 400-metre freestyle.
Gold medalist Ariarne Titmus, of Australia, middle, stands with Canadian silver medalist Summer McIntosh, right, and bronze medalist Katie Ledecky, of the U.S., after winning the women's 400-metres freestyle final the at the 2024 Summer Olympics on July 27 in Nanterre, France.Petr David Josek/The Associated Press
It wasn’t just that Ms. McIntosh, one of the youngest members of Team Canada, had stood up to some of the best swimmers in the world and elbowed her way onto the podium, and ultimately into history. It was broader than that; Canada was on the board.
Then fencer Eleanor Harvey, 29, came back less than 24 hours later to win the country’s first medal in the sport, a bronze, on Sunday, which serves to further ease the national psyche.
Canada usually ends up with about 20 or so medals, sometimes more, at the Summer Olympics, if recent history is any guide. Paris should be no different. But the stress and handwringing of the first few days, wondering where and when the medals will come, is as traditional as the lighting of the flame.
The Games may technically begin with the opening ceremony, but it is Ms. McIntosh and Ms. Harvey who have now formally declared the 2024 Summer Olympics open for Canada.
Canada's Eleanor Harvey celebrates on the podium after winning the bronze medal of the women's individual Foil competition during the 2024 Summer Olympics at the Grand Palais on July 28 in Paris, France.Andrew Medichini/The Associated Press
Even before she arrived in Paris, Ms. McIntosh knew the importance of that first medal, and she knew she would be relied upon to deliver it.
“Being able to race Day 1 and try and set the tone as best as possible for Team Canada is super, super important,” she said at the team’s pre-Olympics staging camp in Caen, France. “So Day 1 is where it all kind of starts rolling.”
Rolling, indeed. With two medals in as many days, Canada now has some momentum to work with, and athletes will tell you how much that energy filters through the various sports.
For the swimming program in particular, which kicks off every Olympics, that pressure weighs heavily. Given the high expectations the Canadians went into Paris with, it would be noticed and felt if they faltered at the pool.
Ms. McIntosh’s coach, Brent Arckey, said as much after her silver-medal swim this weekend.
“It’s certainly a thing,” Mr. Arckey said of the pressure to win the first medal and the space it occupies in an athlete’s mind. “To say that it’s not would kind of be underestimating the situation.”
Even still, the swim team arrived at the pool this weekend with more pressure than they could have predicted a week ago.
With the women’s soccer team engulfed by scandal over its use of a drone to spy on opponents’ training sessions, which led to sanctions, Team Canada officials needed some good news, fast.
It was not lost on the swimming program when the Canadian Olympic Committee suggested a few medals might make the country feel better about itself. One glance at the calendar indicated they were talking about the swimmers.
But with Ms. McIntosh’s performance, the Canadian swimmers are confident they have momentum on their side now, because medals have a psychological impact.
“Swimming is a very mental sport, if you have good momentum, having good swims, execution is good, it just gives you confidence,” said Canadian Josh Liendo, who will race for gold in the men’s 100-metre butterfly next Saturday.
Maggie Mac Neil hoped to carry the momentum of Ms. McIntosh’s medal into her own big race Sunday, but the defending gold medalist in the women’s 100-metre butterfly came up short in a stacked field.
But Ms. Mac Neil is still a big believer in momentum, and the impact the swimmers can have on the rest of Team Canada with some early success.
She remembers the first medal Canada won in Tokyo three years ago, a silver in the women’s 4x100-metre freestyle relay, and the contagious effect it had.
“That was the first medal that Canada had won. And I think that really set the tone. And we had one of the most successful Games, not just for Canadian swimming, but for Canada as a whole country,” Ms. Mac Neil said.
“When you see someone on the team win their first medal, everyone’s like, I want to be part of that.”
In that context, the swim team has a busy week of tone-setting ahead of them.
In addition to Mr. Liendo next Saturday, Ms. McIntosh will race the 400-metre individual medley on Monday, which is the event she holds the world record in. She will then race the 200-metre butterfly on Thursday, a race she is highly ranked in, and she will likely appear in another relay before returning for the 200-metre individual medley on Saturday.
Four-time Olympic medalist Kylie Masse will race the 100-metre backstroke on Tuesday and the 200 metres on Friday, an event in which she is looking for a shot at the podium.
Swim Canada high-performance director John Atkinson likens the first medal to a springboard.
“The springboard is, first day on the podium, now focus ahead,” Mr. Atkinson said.