Monday, July 26, 2021

Tokyo Olympics digest: Alaskan teen shocks defending champion

Lydia Jacoby produced a shock in the women's 100-meter breaststroke, knocking off defending champion and teammate Lilly King. Flora Duffy won Bermuda's first-ever gold medal in the triathlon. Follow DW for the latest.



Lydia Jacoby reacts to her surprise win in the 100-meter breaststroke.


Tuesday saw history made at the Tokyo Olympics as 17-year-old Alaskan Lydia Jacoby stormed to victory in the women's 100-meter breaststroke.

Jacoby knocked off defending champion and US teammate Lilly King to reach the top of the podium. She's the first swimmer from the Arctic circle to ever make the US Olympic swimming team, and the first Alaskan Olympic gold medalist.

Jacoby, still in high school, sat in third heading into the final turn, as the expected battle between favorites King and South African Tatjana Schoenmaker played out in front of her.

But the teenager accelerated in the final 25 meters and surged past her competitors on the final two strokes. Schoenmaker finished in silver while King claimed bronze.

"I was definitely racing for a medal. I knew I had it in me," Jacoby said. "I wasn't really expecting a gold medal, so when I looked up and saw the scoreboard, it was insane.''

Teammate King was gushing in her praise for Jacoby.

"I’m so excited for Lydia," King said. "I love to see the future of American breaststroke coming up like this and to have somebody to go at it head to head in the country. I definitely knew she was a threat and saw a lot of myself in her effort."









































Other gold medals

The self-governing British island territory of Bermuda has its first-ever Olympic gold medal thanks to Flora Duffy. The 33-year-old swam, cycled and ran her way through wind and rain to win the women's triathlon in just under two hours.

"I think [the medal] is bigger than me. It's going to inspire the youth of Bermuda and everyone back home that competing on the world stage from a small island is really possible," Duffy said.

Duffy sealed victory in a time of 1:55:36 after setting the pace in the 1.5-kilometer swim.

Great Britain's Georgia Taylor-Brown was left to rue a tire puncture near the closing stages. She rode through the flat to claim silver almost one minute behind Duffy. Katie Zaferes of the US finished in bronze.


Flora Duffy celebrates Bermuda's first-ever gold medal at an Olympics.

Elsewhere in the pool, Russian athletes ended the United States' dominance in the men's 100-meter backstroke, with Russia's Evgeny Rylov taking gold and his teammate Kliment Kolesnikov finishing with silver.

It was the first time the team had lost a backstroke race since 1992. Defending Olympic champion Ryan Murphy had to settle for bronze.


Britain claimed gold and silver in the men's 200-meter freestyle through Tom Dean and Duncan Scott, while Australia's Kaylee McKeown won gold in the women's 100-meter backstroke.


More news from Tokyo

A storm off Japan's east coast remained a threat on Tuesday, despite initial fears of devastating winds and rain not coming to fruition.

While some events, such as the women's triathlon, were delayed due to the weather, surfers embraced the conditions. Organizers decided to move surfing medal events a day earlier than scheduled to take advantage of the waves.

Two medal games for softball, however, could be threatened.

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