Tokyo Olympics 2021: Emma McKeon takes bronze in women's 100m butterfly final

Australia's Emma McKeon took bronze in the final of the 100m butterfly at the Tokyo Olympics on Monday.

Swimming in lane three, McKeon clocked an Australian record of 55.72, behind gold medallist Margaret MacNeil of Canada (55.59). China's Zhang Yufei took silver in 55.64,

McKeon, 27, had already won gold in Tokyo as a member of Australia's world record breaking women's 4x100m freestyle relay team and this was her sixth Olympic medal; and her second in an individual race.

America's top-ranked Torri Huske just missed the medals in fourth, 0.01 behind McKeon, while defending champion Sarah Sjoestroem of Sweden was seventh. Sjoestroem set the world and Olympic record of 55.48 at Rio 2016 but clocked 56.91 in the Tokyo final.

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McKeon had the slowest reaction time off the blocks and was back in the field at the turn, yet produced a powerhouse effort to put herself in the medals. In beating Huske, she condemned the USA to its first medal-less event of the Olympics thus far.

"I'm pretty pleased, I'm going to be on the Olympic podium, so you can't really be more happy," she said afterwards on pool deck.

"I was just focusing on my race. I could see the American girl on the other side of me and I realised we were only 0.01 off, third and fourth, so [good] to get my hand on the wall before her."

McKeon still has the 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, medley relay, 4x200m relay and mixed medley relay left on her program.

She could break the record for most Olympic medals won by a female swimmer at a single Games, jointly held by Germany's Kristin Otto and American Natalie Coughlin (six). She could also surpass Ian Thorpe (nine) for most Olympic medals for an Australian swimmer.