Sarah Sjöström became the first Swedish woman
to win Olympic swimming gold on Sunday and
she did it in style, setting a world record in the
100m butterfly.
Sjöström touched in 55.48sec, lowering the mark
of 55.64 she set at the World Championships last
August in Kazan, Russia -- where she broke the
record twice.
"I knew that when I had a good turn -- I came in
with my hands perfect in the turn -- I knew it
would be hard for the others to swim faster,"
Sjöström said.
Silver medallist Penny Oleksiak of Canada and
American bronze medallist Dana Vollmer were a
study in contrasts -- Oleksiak a 16-year-old
Canadian and Vollmer the 28-year-old London
gold medallist.
Neither had an answer for Sjöström on Sunday,
Oleksiak clocking 56.46sec and Vollmer -- who
took time off after her London triumph to start a
family and has a 17-month-old son, Arlen --
finished in 56.63.
Sjöström, who was fifth in the 100m fly in
London, has dominated the event since 2013.
But she admitted that even with European titles,
long- and short-course world titles and world
records in both long- and short-course, she
sometimes doubted she would snag that elusive
Olympic gold.
"Of course, all the time," she said. "It's like an
every day struggle."
No comments:
Post a Comment