Lilly King wins Olympic swimming gold, taunts Russian rival on doping


On Monday, Team USA swimmer Lilly King took the gold in both the 100m breaststroke and in talking smack.
Just moments after she set a new Olympic-record time of 1:04.93, the 19-year-old told an interviewer her win "proves that you can compete clean and still come out on top with all the work you put in." King was referring to Russian swimmer Yulia Efimova, who she beat by more than half a second. Efimova has failed drug tests for banned substances twice, and was one of seven Russians banned from competing in the Olympics by the International Swimming Federation (she was reinstated before the Games began).
This wasn't the first time King got in some choice words against Efimova. On Sunday night, Efimova, who was booed during her preliminary race and semifinal, held up the "No. 1" sign after coming in first during the semifinal. While watching backstage, King mocked Efimova, wagging her finger at the TV screen. King went on to beat Efimova's time, and when asked about her reaction by NBC, King replied: "You're shaking your finger No. 1, and you've been caught for drug cheating. I'm just not a fan."
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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