Jonathan Nackstrand /AFP
South Africa's Tatjana Smith won the women's 100m Olympic breaststroke gold on Monday with a late surge to clinch a thrilling battle.
The 200m breaststroke winner in Tokyo triumphed with a time of 1:05.28 ahead of China's Tang Qianting with Ireland's Mona McSharry taking the bronze.
The 27-year-old from Johannesburg had won silver in the event in Tokyo but found a late kick to power past Tang and touch first.
The 20-year-old Tang, world champion in the event in Doha this year had set the fourth fastest ever time with 1:04.39 at the Chinese national championships in April.
McSharry's bronze was Ireland's first medal at Paris and their first in swimming since Michelle Smith's wins in Atlanta in 1996.
It was a disappointing result for American Lilly King, the 27-year-old from Indiana, who was the 2016 gold medal winner in the event in Rio and finished with a bronze in Tokyo.
King set the current world record of 1:04.13 at the 2017 world championships, breaking the four-year-old mark set by Lithuanian Ruta Meilutyte.
She had hoped to regain her crown this week but narrowly missed out on the podium, finishing in fourth place.
© Agence France-Presse
