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NANTERRE, France — American swimmers managed to bring home a single gold medal on Thursday at the Paris Olympics, as young athletes from Australia and Canada powered ahead in key races.
The most stunning moment of the night came at the end, when an Australian team led by star Ariarne Titmus dominated the U.S. in the 4-by-200 meter relay.
The Aussie women won gold and set a new Olympic record.
The U.S. never led in the race, but American star Katie Ledecky, age 27, helped keep it close.
The silver is her thirteenth medal — making Ledecky the most decorated woman swimmer in Olympic history.
The American women took silver, while China settled for bronze.
"Excited to get a gold for Team USA"
Kate Douglass was the lone standout for the U.S. on Thursday.
She powered through the final stretch of the 200-meter breaststroke Olympic final, setting a new American record in the event.
"I'm really excited just to be able to call myself an individual Olympic champion," Douglass said after the race. "Really excited to get a gold for Team USA and you know, help out that medal count."
Douglass, age 22, is one of the rising stars on an American swim team that has struggled at times in Paris.
She held on by a fraction of a second to beat Tatjana Smith of South Africa. Tes Schouten of the Netherlands took bronze.
This was the final Olympic individual race for American Lilly King, age 27, a two-time gold medalist, who finished last in the event.
She's announced that she won't attempt to return in 2028 for the Los Angeles Summer Games.
"Tonight I think is all about celebrating Kate and that amazing accomplishment," King said.
"I was actually so far behind, I took a peek up and saw her finish," King said, with a laugh.
Also on Thursday, Canadian star Summer McIntosh - who trains in the U.S. - swam to another gold in the women's 200 meter butterfly final. American Regan Smith took silver.
The results so far have been a disappointment for the U.S. American swimmers left the national trials in Indianapolis last month confident after posting blazing fast times and posting new records.
But so far, despite often swimming personal best times, they haven't been fast enough to win against a rising class of international talent.
These Olympics haven't been a washout.
American swimmers have notched 20 total medals, four of them gold. But in a typical Summer Games, America's powerhouse team captures ten gold medals.
Asked about the U.S. performance with three days of competition still to go, Douglass said the team remains confident.
"We're proud of ourselves and proud of what we've done," said Douglass after her gold-medal winning race. "We don't listen to all the outside noise, we kind of stick together."
Chinese swimmers take bronze, face questions
On Thursday, Chinese swimmers implicated in a doping scandal won two bronze medals.
Zhang Yufei took bronze in the women's 200-meter butterfly final.
Chinese athletes who tested positive for performance enhancing drugs in 2021 also shared a bronze medal Thursday in the women's 4-by-200 meter freestyle relay final.
Asked about the controversy during press conferences after their races, Chinese swimmers denied wrongdoing and said they were being singled out for scrutiny unfairly.
The World Anti-Doping Agency has acknowledged keeping the results of positive drug tests secret, sparking a scandal that now includes a criminal probe by the U.S. Justice Department.
Copyright 2024 NPR
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