Paris Olympics, Day 5 Semifinals: Tatjana Smith Books Tilt At 200 Breaststroke Title Defence; Set For Duel With Kate Douglass
Rebecca Soni is the only woman to have defended the Olympic 200m breaststroke title, the American fending off all-comers at Beijing 2008 and London 2012.
Tatjana Smith (nee Schoenmaker) now has the chance to become the second woman to do so after qualifying for Thursday’s final second in 2:19.94 behind Kate Douglass of the USA who booked lane four in 2:19.74.
“I was excited to be next to her tonight,” Douglass said of Smith. “I knew we would probably both go 2:19s, and I knew we would just push each other in that race. It went as expected.”
The pair were in clear water with the American three seconds ahead of Tes Schouten, the world champion earlier this year who clocked 2:22.74.
Also through were Smith’s teammate Kaylene Corbett who made it two South Africans in the final in 2:22.87, Ye Shiwen of China (2:23.13), Lilly King (2:23.25), Kotryna Teterevkova (2:23.42) and Satomi Suzuki of Japan who claimed the final berth in 2:23.50.
- World Record: Evgeniia Chikunova, Russia – 2:17.55 (2023)
- Olympic Record: Tatjana Smith, South Africa – 2:18.95 (2021)
- Tokyo Olympic Champion: Tatjana Smith, South Africa – 2:18.95
- Meet Results
- 2024 Paris Olympics Meet Page
