Lilly King of the U.S. defeated controversial swimmer Yulia Efimova in the women’s 100m breaststroke to claim the Olympic gold in Rio.
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Kelly is earning fans for her opinions, cockiness, tough talk and swim-to-win attitude. Her teammate Katie Meili won third at 1:05.69.
The US swimmer beat Efimova in the final by 0.57 seconds, and in victory showed her displeasure at the Russian by wagging her finger, apparently to anger her rival.
King condemned Efimova for waving her finger in a No. 1 gesture after winning her semifinal Sunday, while Swedish swimmer Jennie Johansson, who fell short of moving on to the final, protested that a lane had been “taken by someone that doesn’t deserve it”.
“I really don’t know how I even reached the final”, Efimova said, her face red from crying. “Now I feel really happy as after everything, it is a good time and it’s the best I can do right now”.
King has earlier criticised Efimova making it clear she didn’t think the Russian belonged in the pool after serving a 16-month ban in the wake of a 2013 positive test and a positive test this year for meldonium.
“It just proves that you can compete clean and still come out on top”, King said.
Wednesday, we will see whether Lilly King can point her “Number one” finger once more when she swims again in Rio.
King later answered a question about Australian Mack Horton, who called his win over China’s Sun Yang a “win for clean athletes.”
“I basically said what everybody thinks”, King added.
King and Meili wrapped themselves together in the U.S. flag after the victory ceremony, while Efimova stood gracelessly to the side.
But King’s criticism wasn’t just reserved for her global opponents.
“I understand the people who didn’t congratulate me because the media was full of fake stories about me”, Efimova, 24, said, according to Russia’s Tass agency in Rio and as cited by The Guardian.
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As part of the International Olympic Committee’s decision not to throw the entire Russian team out of the Olympics, Efimova was initially banned along with six other Russian swimmers who either had positive tests on their record or were named in an investigation of Russia’s massive, state-sanctioned doping scheme. Because she has lived in the USA, she has been a part of American drug testing.
