Lilly King Breaks Olympic Record, Wins Heated 100 Breast Final

2016 RIO OLYMPIC GAMES

• Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Swimming: August 6-13
• Olympic Aquatics Stadium, Barra Olympic Park, Rio de Janeiro
• Prelims – 9:00 a.m/12:00 p.m PST/EST (1:00 p.m local), Finals – 6:00 p.m/9:00 p.m PST/EST (10:00 p.m local)
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• Live Stream (NBC)

In an emotionally charged 100 breaststroke final, American Lilly King backed up her pre-race talk with an emphatic win and an Olympic record of 1:04.93, taking out Russian Yuliya Efimova who she has created a bit of a rivalry with here in Rio.

King’s swim removes Australian Leisel Jones‘ Olympic record of 1:05.17 from her 2008 Olympic gold medal performance, but the record no doubt takes a back seat to the victory over Efimova.

After Efimova won her semi-final last night she waved her finger in the air signalling ‘number 1’. King, watching from the ready room, saw that and mockingly waved her finger as well.

She had some choice words after the race, stating “you put your finger in the air for number one and you’ve been caught drug cheating…I’m not a fan”.

Tension was high behind the blocks, with King clearly giving Efimova a dirty look prior to the race. Afterwards, she celebrated with American teammate Katie Meili, who won bronze, barely acknowledging Efimova.

Efimova did win silver in 1:05.50, and Meili won bronze in 1:05.69. Surprisingly, 2012 gold medallist Ruta Meilutyte was nearly two seconds off her London time, finishing 7th in 1:07.32. She had also let her distaste for FINA’s allowance of Efimova earlier in the doping scandal via twitter.