Tokyo Olympics digest: Alaskan teen shocks defending champion
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.”
Here is a roundup of the latest news and results from the Tokyo Olympics:
Germany Update
Germany’s Ricarda Funk produced a brilliant run in the women’s kayak slalom to win gold. Spain’s Maialen Chourraut finished with silver and Australia’s Jessica Fox made up the podium finish.
Germany’s Ricarda Funk celebrates her victory in the kayak slalom.
Other gold medals
A huge feelgood story from the Olympic surfing as Australian Owen Wright completed an incredible comeback from a traumatic brain injury to win bronze.
The 31-year-old suffered bleeding on the brain after a wipeout during training in 2015. He needed to learn how to walk again before he could then set his sights on returning to competitive surfing.
Wright’s road to the bronze medal was blocked by two-time world champion Gabriel Medina, but the Australian’s total score of 11.97 edged out the Brazilian’s 11.77.
Italo Ferreira of Brazil defeated Kanoa Igarashi of Japan in the men’s final.
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 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.
Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/tokyo-olympics-digest-alaskan-teen-shocks-defending-champion/a-58652626?maca=en-rss-en-sports-1027-xml-atom