Tatjana Smith adds to Olympic gold with silver medal in 200m breaststroke

By SABC Sport
1st August 2024

South Africa's Tatjana Smith secured a silver medal in the women's 200m breaststroke at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Thursday night, at the La Defense Arena pool.

Smith, 27, finished with a time of 2 minutes 19.60 seconds, narrowly missing the gold to Kate Douglass of the United States, who clocked in at 2:19.24.

Dutch swimmer Tes Schouten clinched bronze with a time of 2 minutes 21.05 seconds.

This race added to Smith's medal tally, as she had previously won gold in the 100m breaststroke on Tuesday night.

In the same event, Kaylene Corbett, Smith's compatriot, finished in seventh place among a competitive field.

The men's 200m backstroke final occurred about half an hour before Smith's race, with Pieter Coetze placing seventh with a time of 1:55.60.

The gold medal in this event was claimed by Hubert Kos of Hungary, the 2023 world champion, with a time of 1:54.26. Kos's victory marked Hungary's first swimming gold of the Paris Olympics.

Apostolos Christou of Greece secured the silver in the men's 200m backstroke, finishing just 0.56 seconds behind Kos.

Switzerland's Roman Mityukov took the bronze. Christou led the race for the first 150 metres, with Kos moving into second place before overtaking him in the final stretch.