McKeown completes backstroke double with 200m gold

PARIS : Australia's Kaylee McKeown cemented her place among the greats of Olympic swimming on Friday as she became the first woman to retain both of the backstroke titles with gold in the 200m event in Paris.

The 23-year-old world record holder once again overhauled American challenger Regan Smith in a battle royale to claim the win in an Olympic record 2:03.73 at La Defense Arena.

Smith took silver, 0.53 seconds behind her Australian nemesis.

Kylie Masse took bronze for Canada.

McKeown, who retained her 100m title on day four in Paris, is now Australia's first Olympian to win four gold medals in individual events as opposed to team ones, taking her past a parade of iconic names like Dawn Fraser, Ian Thorpe and Betty Cuthbert.