By Ian Ransom
PARIS, July 27 (Reuters) - Being a member of Australia's women's 4x100 metres relay team almost inevitably means winning gold at the Olympics - and Shayna Jack may have thought hers would have come at the 2020 Tokyo Games.
Instead, she had to wait three years longer while serving a doping ban and fighting, unsuccessfully, to clear her name before she was able to grab her gold on Saturday when Australia won the event at Paris's La Defense Arena.
After Mollie O'Callaghan led off for Australia in a time of 52.24 seconds, Jack held up her end of the bargain with a second leg of 52.35.
Emma McKeon, who won her sixth Olympic gold, kept up the pace and Meg Harris brought Australia home in a sizzling lap of 51.94 seconds.
Saturday was a moment of redemption for Jack, who was the pariah of Australian swimming after testing positive for an anabolic agent before the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju.
Jack denied wrongdoing but served a two-year ban before making a successful comeback to the pool.
The 25-year-old Queenslander, though, was loath to see Saturday as a case of making amends.
"No, for me, it's just definitely about getting up there and doing my country proud," she told reporters.
"I definitely missed that opportunity in 2021.
"But yeah, I already proved my redemption by getting here. This is just all fun and games to me and just enjoying the experience."
It was a golden night all round for Australia, with Ariarne Titmus defending her women's 400 metres freestyle title ahead of Summer McIntosh and American Katie Ledecky.
The men enjoyed silvers, with Elijah Winnington grabbing one in the 400m freestyle and Australia runners-up behind the United States in the 4x100m freestyle relay.
For Jack, hers was a personal triumph made sweeter for sharing it with team mates.
"You know, it's a really special moment to stand on that podium with the other three girls and represent the two girls from our heat swim," she said.
"I'm really proud of myself and how far I've come."
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(Reporting by Ian Ransom; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
((ian.ransom@thomsonreuters.com; Follow me on Twitter
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