American Kate Douglass wins 200m breaststroke, her first ever Olympic gold medal
Fans of Team USA now know what fans of the University of Virginia swimming team have known for years: Kate Douglass is a bona-fide star.
A 15-time NCAA champion from the Cavaliers will now be able to include an Olympic gold medalist on her list of accomplishments having won the breaststroke event for women’s 200m in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Douglass completed the race the track in 2:19.24 she lowered her personal American record and beat Tokyo gold medallist Tatjana Smith(nee Schoenmaker) by 0.36 seconds. Tes Schouten from the Netherlands won bronze while five-time Olympic medallist Lilly King finished 8th in the final single race of her legendary Olympic career.
“I feel like this was a long time coming,” Douglass 23 said to the NBC’s Melissa Stark after the race. “I believe I was physically prepared to race. What I’ve been doing in training these past couple of months prior to this week, I was confident that the race if I ran it correctly, I’d take the win.”
This is the first Olympic gold medal for Douglass, a Pelham, New York native and her third gold overall. Douglass was awarded bronze at the 200 meter IM at her Olympic debut in Tokyo Then she added silver in Paris as part of the U.S. women’s 4x100m freestyle relay.
Douglass is hoping to add another gold medal to her record on Saturday in the final event of the 200m IM which is her final solo race of her participation in the Paris Games.