South Africa’s Tatjana Schoenmaker had a heartwarming moment with Lilly King, teammates after breaking 200 breaststroke WR
What a wonderful moment.
The women’s 200-meter breaststroke final at the Tokyo Olympics was filled with excitement as South African swimmer Tatjana Schoenmaker won gold and broke the world record with a speedy 2:18.95 swim, just ahead of Americans Lilly King and Annie Lazor, who won silver and bronze, respectively.
While it looked like Schoenmaker knew she won the gold medal when she hit the wall Friday morning in Japan (Thursday night in the U.S.), it seemingly took her a second to realize she broke the world record — the first individual world record broken in the pool at these Games.
But when she did, Schoenmaker’s reaction was priceless as she screamed and began crying before Lazor wrapped her arm around the gold-medal winner.
South Africa's Tatjana Schoenmaker BREAKS the world record to win the gold in the women's 200m breaststroke and her reaction is priceless.@_king_lil and @lazorlaze win the silver and bronze for @TeamUSA. #TokyoOlympics
NBC
https://t.co/vlVjyst3S3
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— #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) July 30, 2021
And then in a truly heartwarming moment, King and South African swimmer Kaylene Corbett, who finished fifth, joined Schoenmaker and Lazor, and the foursome celebrated their Olympic swims together.
THIS IS WHAT THE OLYMPICS ARE ALL ABOUT
#TokyoOlympics pic.twitter.com/ucgIh3P9zA
— #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) July 30, 2021
They all seemed genuinely happy for each other but especially for Schoenmaker, who still seemed to be in disbelief over her record-breaking race.
These athletes are, of course, super competitive, but it’s always sweet when they can celebrate each other’s success too.
With the silver medal and a time of 2:19.92 — nearly a second behind Schoenmaker — King won her first 200 breaststroke medal at an international meet after finishing 12th in the event at the 2016 Rio Games. Lazor, King’s training partner, won her first Olympic medal at her first Games with a time of 2:20.84.
Earlier this week, King also won the bronze medal in the 100-meter breaststroke behind silver medalist Schoenmaker and 17-year-old Alaska native Lydia Jacoby.
And the two American breaststrokers continued expressing their support and love for each other in their on-deck interview with NBC after the race.
.@_king_lil and @lazorlaze, supporting each other all the way to the podium.@TeamUSA x #TokyoOlympics
— #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) July 30, 2021
“I wouldn’t have done that if [Lazor] wasn’t right there next to me,” King told NBC. “This is what we’ve been working for, and I’m so proud.”