United States 100m breaststroke hope Lilly King had a message for her Russian rival Yuliya Efimova after the women’s semi-finals: not so fast.
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Efimova, who won bronze in the 200 breaststroke in London, was one of seven Russians who were banned from the Olympics last month because of the doping scandal in Russia.
King watched Efimova’s semifinal from the ready room and when she saw the Russian raise an index finger to indicate she was No. 1, King waved a finger back at her while flashing a big smile. Her American counterpart Lilly King, who was waiting to get in the pool for her semifinal, wagged right back.
“That’s just kind of my personality”, she said.
“You’re shaking your finger No. 1, and you’ve been caught for drug cheating”.
After her win, King didn’t mince words when talking about Efimova, likely her biggest competitor for the gold medal in Monday night’s final, which is scheduled to go off at 9:54 p.m. ET.
Carrying the fastest qualifying time into the semifinals of the 100-meter breaststroke, Evansville’s Lilly King didn’t disappoint. If I do need to stir it up to put a little fire under my butt or anybody else’s, then that’s what I’m going to do.
“It’s the IOC’s decision, and I respect the decision, even though it’s something I don’t agree with”, King said. King is obviously not a fan, and she reacted with a finger wag that instantly made her a fan-favorite. She also explained exactly why she’d reacted the way she had to Efimova competing.
The reigning world champion was allowed to compete at the Rio Games after serving a 16-month suspension for doping and again testing positive this year for the now-banned substance meldonium. Worldwide swimming chiefs have still offered no explanation as to why she was reinstated.
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King said knowing she was going head-to-head against Meilutyte in heat 6 fed into her racing mindset. News stories displayed here appear in our category for General and are licensed via a specific agreement between LongIsland.com and The Associated Press, the world’s oldest and largest news organization.
