Paris Berth Secured, Lilly King Offers Emphatic ‘Nope’ to 2028 Games
Never one to keep the cards too close to the vest, Lilly King was in a sharing mode Monday night after making her third Olympics.
Paris will be her final Games. While the Olympics might not be her last competitive swim meet, they will be her last Olympic Trials.
King offered an emphatic reiteration of that after winning the 100 breaststroke.
“Nope,” King deadpanned. “I will not be competing in LA. I’m going to watch and have fun.”
King offered at a pre-meet press conference on Friday that she will be watching the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 as a spectator. “I will not be done after this summer,” she said, “but yeah, I will not be going another four years.”
It’s not for lack of form. King made her third Olympics in the 100 breast on Monday by winning the event in 1:05.43. That was nearly seven tenths ahead of first-time Olympian Emma Weber. It left Lydia Jacoby, who won gold at the Tokyo Olympics, out in the cold in third by .27 seconds.
King is one of the most distinguished female breaststrokers in history. She won gold in the 100 breast at Rio, then bronze in the 100 and silver in the 200 in Tokyo.
Her time Monday makes her the third-fastest performer in the world this year, behind China’s Qianting Tang, Evgeniia Chikunova of Russia and Tatjana Smith (nee Schoenmaker) of South Africa. Chikunova will not be at the Paris Olympics.
Should this be the last Olympic Trials for King, it’s a suitably triumphant one. The Evansville native and Indiana University alum is here flying the flag of the Hoosier State. She delivered a scintillating moment in her signature event, which frees her to chase more in the 200, and she chased it with a leap into the stands to hug family.
“I think I basked in it a little more than I have in the past, just being here in Indy and also with it being my last Trials,” she said. “It was just a great night overall.”