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 is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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