Japan’s Rie Kaneto won the 200m women’s breaststroke on Thursday night, sealing a gold medal with a time of 2:20.30. She held off Russia’s Yulia Efimova for the victory. China’s Shi Jinglin used a late surge to sneak .06 seconds ahead of Chloe Tutton for the bronze.
Olympic swimming results 2016: Japan’s Rie Kaneto wins gold in women’s 200m breaststroke
Rie Kaneto defeated a tough crowd of swimmers to claim gold in the 200m breaststroke on Thursday night.
Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports
Kaneto took an early lead and held off a staggering surge from Efimova after the third turn. No one could catch the 27-year-old swimmer as she powered to the wall for her first ever gold medal.
The 2016 Olympic final was missing the defending gold and silver medalists from the 2015 World Championships. Japan’s Kakano Watanabe, last year’s top swimmer, failed to qualify for the event. Silver medalist Micah Lawrence did not participate in the event. However, two of last year’s three bronze medalists turned up for the final. Denmark’s Rikke Moller Pedersen and China’s Shi Jinglin had the opportunity defend their spots on the podium in 2016.
| Womens 200m Breaststroke | |||
| Place | Swimmer | Country | Time |
| 1 | Rie Kaneto | JPN | 2:20.30 |
| 2 | Yulia Efimova | RUS | 2:21.97 |
| 3 | Shi Jinglin | CHN | 2:22.28 |
| 4 | Chloe Tutton | GBR | 2:22.34 |
| 5 | Taylor McKeown | AUS | 2:22.43 |
| 6 | Molly Renshaw | GBR | 2:22.72 |
| 7 | Kierra Smith | CAN | 2:23.19 |
| 8 | Rikke Moller Pedersen | DEN | 2:23.74 |
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