All eyes were on Indiana graduate Lilly King and South Africa’s Tatjana Shoemaker in the women’s 100-meter breaststroke final at the Tokyo Olympics Monday night.
But it was a teenager from Alaska who stole the show.
Lydia Jacoby, a 17-year-old Anchorage high schooler, chased down King and Shoemaker in the final 50 meters to win the gold medal in 1:04.95. Shoemaker won the silver in 1:05.22, and King took the bronze in 1:05.54.
It was the first loss for King in a 100 breaststroke final since 2015. The world recordholder in the event, King was the defending Olympic champion, having won gold in Rio in 2016.
But after jumping out to an early lead, King was three-tenths of a second behind Shoemaker at the turn and in third place with 50 meters to go.
The 2019 IU graduate from Evansville was trying to become the first woman to repeat in the 100 breaststroke in Olympic history.
King is entered in the 200 breaststroke.
