Australia's greatest Olympian: How Emma McKeon made swimming history as she prepares for next chapter
The title of Australia's greatest Olympian was officially crowned at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo - but it's about to come to an end.
Emma McKeon etched her name into Australian sporting history as she matched a long-standing women's record of achieving seven medals at a single Olympic Games: a 68-year-old feat first held by Soviet gymnast Maria Gorokhovskaya.
Collecting five golds, two silvers and four bronzes throughout her career, the veteran Dolphin will finish her storied Olympic career after Paris.
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The 30-year-old announced the decision in April, saying "it felt like a good time" to begin the next chapter in her life.
McKeon narrowly missed out on the opportunity to defend her freestyle titles in Paris, only qualifying as a member of the relay teams and 100m butterfly.
Despite placing sixth in the 100m fly final, her legacy will not be hindered by the result.
"It's just a privilege to watch her in the pool," former Dolphins teammate Cate Campbell said Nine's Today.
"We know that her time is limited, she said that this would be her last Olympic Games.
"She could've easily walked away from the sport in Tokyo ... but to have the courage to stand there and think, 'maybe I haven't had the best preparation possible but I'm still going to come out and race, and I'm still going to do Australia proud' is a real strength of character.
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"I think that we got to see how much this sport means to her [after her 100m butterfly event] and how much she's put into it over the years.
"She's spoken about some of her struggles and to be able to see her compete is just a real treat for us."
One more podium achievement will see McKeon climb to equal 10th all time for most Olympic medals.
Two more medals would see only three Olympic athletes in history able to gloat their success, including swimming great Michael Phelps and Soviet gymnasts Larisa Latynina and Nikolai Andrianov.
"She's had a really difficult preparation, but to be able to stand behind the blocks and have the courage to race with the weight of a nation on her shoulders," Campbell said.
"She is our greatest Olympian of all time so whenever she stands behind the blocks she knows that all the eyes and expectation is going to be on her.
"Underneath it all and for those who know her we see how hard she works. We know how good she works. I just want everyone in Australia to appreciate that she came back.
"She obviously is nowhere near done. She has the relays which she has such a strong history in of coming through and securing medals for our country.
"She's got a full week to go. It's just a privilege."
McKeon only narrowly missed out on selection for the 2012 Olympics as a 17-year-old before she debuted in the green and gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where she won four medals.
She was awarded the title of most all-time Commonwealth Games medals in 2022, with her count of 20 surpassing the previous record of 18.
Aside from her medals, McKeon currently holds four Olympic records in the 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 400m freestyle relay and 400m medley relay. She is also an eight-time world record holder.
Regardless of what happens in Paris, McKeon's legacy has been engraved into the history and DNA of the Australian Dolphins.
