Alex Shackell adds ‘Olympic Gold Medalist’ to her list of achievements
The REPORTER
Another relay, another Olympics medal for Alex Shackell.
The Carmel swimming superstar earned a gold medal as part of the U.S. Women’s 4×100 medley relay, the prelims of which took place last Saturday at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Shackell was one of those prelims swimmers, which made her eligible for a medal.
Shackell was the third swimmer in the relay, swimming the breaststroke portion. She finished her split in 57.32 seconds. The Americans placed second in their semifinal with a time of 3 minutes, 56.40 seconds and qualified fourth overall.
The finals of the relay took place last Sunday and was the closing event to the swimming competition. The U.S. team of Regan Smith, Lilly King, Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske blasted to victory in a new world record time of 3:49.63, well ahead of silver medalist Australia’s 3:53.11. It was the 11th gold medal for the Americans in this event; the U.S. has won either gold or silver in the 4×100 medley since it started in 1960.
Shackell will return to Carmel as a two-time Olympics medalist. She was also part of the U.S. 4×200 freestyle relay, which won a silver medal earlier in the week.