Story at a glance:
- The 17-year-old from Alaska defeated the defending breaststroke champion at the Olympics.
- The defending champion won bronze.
- The teenager did not realize she had won until she looked up at the scoreboard.
A teenage girl won an Olympic gold medal for the women’s 100-meter breaststroke.
STAND UP ALASKA!
17-year-old Lydia Jacoby WINS GOLD, and everybody’s celebrating! #TokyoOlympics x @USASwimming
: NBC
: https://t.co/GFrdWbcFoO
: NBC Sports App pic.twitter.com/leYOC2Mzju— #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) July 27, 2021
On Tuesday, 17-year-old Alaskan swimmer Lydia Jacoby was victorious at the Tokyo Olympics, defeating her fellow U.S. Olympic swimming teammate and the defending champion Lilly King, The New York Post reports.
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In Seward, Alaska, a crowd of Jacoby’s hometown family and friends from high school egged on the young winner at a watch party back home.
“I was definitely racing for a medal. I knew I had it in me,” Jacoby said after the win. “I wasn’t really expecting a gold medal, so when I looked up and saw the scoreboard it was insane.”
King took home the bronze medal, while South African swimmer Tatjana Schoenmaker took silver.
“I’m so excited for Lydia,” King said.
“I love to see the future of American breaststroke coming up like this and to have somebody to go at it head to head in the country,” King added.
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