Westchester native Kate Douglass won gold for Team USA in a powerful Olympic performance Thursday in the 200-meter breaststroke, edging out 2021 Olympic champion Tatjana Smith.
Douglass, who graduated from Pelham Memorial High School in 2019 before joining the NCAA-winning team at the University of Virginia, earned her first Olympic gold medal by touching the wall at 2:19.24.
This is the American’s second medal of the 2024 Games, as she helped Team USA earn silver in the women’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay on the first night of the Olympic meet.
To earn gold Thursday, the 22-year-old bested Smith, the South African swimmer who won the event in Tokyo and earned gold in the 100-meter breaststroke on Monday in Paris.
Smith also still holds the Olympic record of 2:18.95 in the 200-meter race from her performance in Tokyo.
This is Douglass’ second Olympics, as she won bronze for the United States in the 200-meter individual medley in 2021, but her first time competing in the 200-meter breaststroke at the Games.
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Douglass has been a prominent figure in women’s swimming over the past four years, having helped the University of Virginia win four consecutive NCAA Championships from 2021-24.
The American had an incredible performance in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in June, coming in first place and earning an Olympic spot in four individual events: 100-meter freestyle, 200 -meter breaststroke, 200-meter individual medley and the 50-meter freestyle.
While Douglass opted to skip the 100-meter freestyle at the Games to prioritize the breaststroke event on Thursday, she’s expected to be a top contender in the 200-meter individual medley and 50-meter freestyle events in the coming days.
Douglass also swam in the final across the pool from Team USA breaststroke veteran Lilly King. While managing to earn a spot in the final, King came in eighth with a time of 2:25.91.
King announced prior to the meet that this will likely be her final Olympic Games, after competing both in Rio and Tokyo and earning two gold medals, two silver and one bronze from those competitions.
Douglass looks to continue her dominance as she competes in the 200-meter individual medley and 50-meter freestyle on Aug. 2-4.