Alex de Minaur’s Olympic Games may be over, but the Australian tennis star is still in Paris to cheer on his countrymen.
And the 25-year-old, along with her coach and Australian tennis legend Lleyton Hewitt, went wild as they watched Kaylee McKeown become back-to-back Olympic champion in Paris.
De Minaur and Hewitt formed an Australian contingent on Tuesday night (local time) to cheer on McKeown and his teammate Iona Anderson. The pair competed against a strong field that included Team USA world record holder Regan Smith.
It wasn’t meant to be for Anderson, but McKeown kept her composure during a tense race and managed to stay ahead of her American rival, adding to her collection of three gold medals.
After McKeown hit the surface of the water in cheers, the camera panned to De Minaur and Hewitt in the audience, both of whom were completely ecstatic.
De Minaur withdrew from the men’s singles in Paris due to a hip injury he sustained while competing at Wimbledon this month.
He played in the men’s doubles with his childhood friend Alexei Popyrin, but the duo was eliminated in the first round.
De Minaur’s tennis star girlfriend, Katie Boulter, was in action earlier on Tuesday, winning her women’s doubles match against Germany, partnering Heather Watson.
Lleyton Hewitt and Alex de Minaur went wild after Kaylee McKeown’s big win
The Australian won two consecutive gold medals at the Olympic Games in France on Tuesday evening
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McKeown is only the second woman to win back-to-back gold medals in the 100-meter backstroke in Olympic history, after American Natalie Coughlin (2004, 2008).
The Queenslander won gold in the 100 and 200 metre backstroke at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago.
On Thursday she will begin defending her 200m title with heats and semi-finals leading up to the medal race on Friday.
McKeown has also added the 200m individual medley to her schedule for Paris, with the final of that event on Saturday.
McKeown has now won four gold medals in her Olympic career and was also part of the Australian women’s 4x100m medley team that triumphed in Tokyo.
She will also likely compete in the medley final with the Australian team, which will be decided on Sunday on the last day of competition in the swimming pool in Paris.