It seems the Olympics in Tokyo are set for the under dogs as upset after upset is made with the new coming athletes sweeping the medals. It was in a stunning performance that 17-year-old Lydia Jacoby upset American teammate Lilly King in the women’s 100-meter breaststroke in Japan to become the first Alaskan to win an Olympic gold medal in swimming.
Tatjana Schoenmaker, 24, of South Africa was the fastest off the blocks, but she was forced to take silver as Jacoby overtook her with a surge in the final meters of the race after a strong turn at the wall. King, the 24-year-old world record holder and defending gold medalist, had to settle for bronze.
As her time of 1 minute 4.95 seconds was projected, Jacoby was left open-mouthed in shock before being embraced in congratulations by King. Jacoby quoted that “I was just trying to feel good and feel happy going into it, and I think I did that,”
King stated that “we love to keep that gold in the U.S.A. family. This kid just had the swim of her life and I am so proud to be her teammate and proud to get the bronze for my country,”
The world and Olympic-record holder in the 100-meter backstroke and defending gold medalist from the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016, got off to a decent start swimming in the middle lane in the race but couldn’t pull through in the end, losing to Russian swimmers.
Murphy was fast off the start but trailed Kliment Kolesnikov, 21, of Russia. It was a close finish that saw Kolensikov winning silver and Russian teammate Evgeny Rylov, 24, taking gold by a hair’s length of 0.02 of a second.
In the women’s 100-meter backstroke, Australian Kaylee McKeown, 20, won gold with a time of 57.47 seconds, Kylie Masse, 25, of Canada winning silver and American Regan Smith taking home bronze.
