Tatjana Schoenmaker brought the first Olympic gold medal to South Africa

Tatjana Schoenmaker brought the first Olympic gold medal to South Africa at the Tokyo 2020 Games. The 24-year-old swimmer convincingly won the 200m breaststroke swimming title with a new world record of 2:18.95 minutes.

She improved on the old record of Rikke Pedersen (Denmark) of 2:19.11 minutes from August 1, 2013, in Barcelona.

The South African Tatjana Schoenmaker took the lead shortly after the middle of the distance and did not leave any chances to her competitors until the end.

The podium was completed by the Americans Lilly King and Annie Lazor.

Lilly King, the Olympic champion in the 100m breaststroke from Rio 2016, took the silver with 2:19.92 minutes, and Annie Lazor took the bronze with 2:20.84 minutes, only 4 hundredths of a second ahead of 16-year-old Russian Evgenia Chikunova for third place.

Women’s 200m Breaststroke swimming:
1. Tatjana Schoenmaker (South Africa) – 2: 18.95 minutes – world record (WR)
2. Lilly King (USA) – 2: 19.92
3. Annie Lazor (USA) – 2: 20.84