American Lilly King beat Russian swimming star Yulia Yefimova to win a gold medal in the 100-meter breaststroke in a race overshadowed by sniping over Russia's doping scandal.
Yefimova, 24, the reigning world champion who won a silver medal at the Rio event on August 8, only last week won a reprieve from a sport arbitration court allowing her to compete in Rio despite two past suspensions for doping that had initially disqualified her.
King, 19, was disdainful and said openly that she didn't think Yefimova belonged in the pool. Many spectators apparently agreed as they resoundingly booed when Yefimova took to the blocks.
In winning, King set an Olympic record of 1 minute 4.93 seconds, with the Russian second at 1:05.50.
"I think it just proved that you can compete clean and still come out on top," King said afterward.
"I really don't know how I even reached the final," Yefimova said, her face red from crying. "But that was all I could do right now."
World-record holder Ruta Meilutyte of Lithuania also took a poke at Yefimova.
"We train fair," Meilutyte said. "When something like that happens, it's never nice. These are not the values of our sport."
