The last time we saw Summer McIntosh in an Olympic swimming final, the 17-year-old dominated the field in the women’s 400m individual medley. She is back in the pool as the favorite in the Olympic women’s 200m butterfly on Thursday, where she will look for her second individual gold in these games. Here, we break down the women’s 200m butterfly and we will pick our winner to come out on top of this race from the Paris Games.
Olympic Women’s 200m Butterfly Betting Odds
| Swimmer | Gold Medal Odds |
| Summer McIntosh | -220 |
| Regan Smith | +220 |
| Zhang Yufei | +700 |
| Elizabeth Dekkers | +900 |
| Alex Shackell | +2000 |
| Abbey Connor | +2800 |
| Airi Mitsui | +3300 |
| Chen Luying | +4000 |
| Helena Rosendahl Bach | +4000 |
| Lana Pudar | +4000 |
| Laura Stephens | +4000 |
| Keanna Macinnes | +5000 |
| Hiroko Makino | +6600 |
| Boglarka Kapas | +8000 |
| Laura Cabanes Garzas | +25000 |
| Georgia Damasioti | +25000 |
| Anja Crevar | +25000 |
Understandably, Summer McIntosh is the odds-on favorite to win the Olympic women’s 200m butterfly final on Thursday. McIntosh has won gold in this event in the 2022 and 2023 World Championships, which is so impressive given how young she is. There are only two swimmers inside of +500 to win the gold medal in this event, with American Regan Smith joining McIntosh in that small group.
Olympic Women’s 200m Butterfly Major Storylines
McIntosh is clearly the biggest storyline going into the women’s 200m butterfly from Paris. She has already emerged as a huge star at this games, winning gold in the 400m IM by nearly six seconds over anyone else in the field. Another convincing performance here would vault her into superstardom in the world of Olympic swimming with so many years ahead of her to add to her medal total.
How Regan Smith of the United States performs in this race is also a huge storyline. Smith earned three medals at the 2021 Olympics held in Tokyo, but none of those medals were gold. If she can find a way to get past McIntosh and win her first gold medal as an Olympian, that would be a significant accomplishment, though she has yet to win a 200m butterfly race at a major event in her career.
Olympic Women’s 200m Butterfly Medal Contenders
Behind McIntosh and Smith, there are a few medal contenders worth highlighting in the battles for silver and bronze. China’s Zhang Yufei is the reigning Olympic gold medalist in this race, though she faces a much tougher task in trying to repeat against McIntosh and the rest of this field. Australia’s Elizabeth Dekkers has a silver and bronze in this event from the 2022 and 2023 World Championships herself and will look for her first Olympic medal.
Women’s 200m Butterfly Betting Prediction: Summer McIntosh (-220)
This race should not be nearly as lopsided as the 400m IM was for Summer McIntosh. Still, we will take the Canadian to win the Olympic women’s 200m butterfly final on Thursday in Paris. McIntosh is on her way up in this sport, while we have seen the best of defending gold medalist Zhang Yufei. Regan Smith will push McIntosh, but it should be the Canadian earning her second individual gold medal of these games.
