The American women won gold in the 4×100 medley relay Saturday night, giving the US team its 1,000 medal in the Summer Olympics.
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“Why are they discussing only Russians, not another country?”
As the swimming schedule came to a close, Efimova told USA TODAY Sports how the past nine days have been a personal “nightmare” as the bad blood between the American and Russian camps escalated.
After being cleared to compete in Brazil, Efimova claimed silver medals in the 100 metre and 200m breaststroke, but was jeered at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium. King split a 1:05.70 on her swim as the second leg on the relay, keeping her team in excellent position to finish in first. I wasn’t even planning on speaking out. Suffice to say, King didn’t like Efimova’s “No 1” sign. But I’m glad I did, because it is something that needs to be noticed, and it’s something that needs to be dealt with, and I just happened to be the person that made a decision to come out, so I’m super glad I did it.
Certainly, the war of words added a fascinating storyline to the swimming competition and created a compelling rivalry between King and Efimova. “Second, I want to beat Lilly King”. “Then there was the 200, and I was a little bit disappointed with that (she failed to qualify for the final)”.
King took aim at Efimova after beating her in the 100m final, stating: “I’m just happy for the U.S. to know I am competing clean and doing what is right”.
That comment came after the swimmers wagged fingers at one another the night prior. “I’m just not, you know, not a fan”.
“She never talked with me”, she said of King, according to Rogers.
How did she think people would remember her based on this week? “Lilly King should be the firepower for the United States that they need to extend the lead at the halfway point”.
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“I’m sure this is going to get brought up every four years. I’m glad to be that person”.
