Kate Douglass Describes “Surreal Moment” Winning 200 Breast, Ignoring Team USA Critics

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Kate Douglass came through in the clutch on Thursday in the final of the women’s 200 breaststroke, winning gold over defending champion Tatjana Schoenmaker in an American Record time of 2:19.24.

Douglass, whose performance marked the first Olympic gold medal of her career, described winning the event as a “surreal moment” and said she hadn’t fully processed what she pulled off in the post-race press conference.

“It was kind of just a long time coming, I feel like this whole year I’ve just been training and physically preparing for this exact race,” Douglass said.

“Just kind of seeing it all come together and sticking to my race plan I was just so excited to see that I had gotten first. And obviously an American Record too which is awesome.

“I don’t know if all the emotions have set in yet,” she said. “So I feel like that will maybe happen when I start to realize what I accomplished.”

Douglass also addressed a question regarding the American team’s mentality as they’ve only won four gold medals through the first six nights of racing in Paris.

“That’s kind of all of the outside noise being like, ‘Oh the U.S. isn’t doing great,’ whatever. We’re very proud of ourselves and how we’ve done and are very proud of everything that everyone has accomplished. I feel like we just stick to ourselves and don’t listen to any of that outside noise and continue to get excited about the races to come.”

Listen to Douglass’ post-race comments courtesy of CGTN Sports Scene on YouTube below: