American swimmer disqualified in her only Olympic event after illegal violation

American Olympic swimmer Alex Walsh suffered heartbreak after being disqualified and having her bronze medal taken away in Paris.

Walsh competed in the Women's 200m Individual Medley Final on Saturday night and looked to have secured a place on the podium.

17-year-old Canadian sensation Summer McIntosh took another gold, with Kate Douglass from the United States coming in second.

Walsh looked to be the second representative from the US in the top three but a video review uncovered that she had committed an illegal turn at the halfway point.

Image: Claro Sports

Walsh was therefore disqualified following the back-to-breast violation and the bronze medal went to Australian Kaylee McKeown, who had initially finished in fourth.

The University of Virginia graduate is known for his versatility when it comes to strokes and won silver in the medley event in Tokyo back in 2021, as well as picking up three golds in the 2023 World Championships.

But it was a very different feeling that she experienced this time around and plenty of fans had sympathy for her following the unfortunate disqualification.

One wrote: "Alex Walsh DQ’ed for a back-breast turn violation in her only event in the Olympics. Heartbreaking."

Another said: "That’s absolutely heartbreaking for Alex Walsh."

A third added: "Damnnnnn Alex Walsh I feel so bad for her but girl why would you roll over???!".

A fourth commented: "I feel so bad for Alex Walsh. That was her only chance for an indiv medal too."

A fifth posted: "Man I feel awful for Alex Walsh. Put in all that work and time just to be disqualified right at the end."

Walsh looked utterly gutted as she learned of the disqualification, with her teammate attempting to console her.

She will now face a long wait until she can achieve redemption at the Olympics, with the next showpiece taking place on home soil in Los Angeles in 2028.

There was reason to celebrate for the Walsh family, however, as younger sibling Gretchen was part of a world-record achieving gold medal triumph in the mixed 4x100m relay.