It initially appeared that Team USA would achieve a double-podium finish in the women’s 200m individual medley, but one of the swimmers was disqualified post-race, altering the outcome.
Kate Douglass and Alex Walsh seemed to secure second and third place, respectively, in Saturday’s competition, which would have brought two more medals to the U.S. swimming team at the Paris Olympics.
However, shortly after the race, officials announced a review of part of Walsh’s performance, focusing specifically on one of her transitions from backstroke to breaststroke.
Kate Douglass and Team USA moved forward to the 4x100m medley relay final after placing second in the heats.
Soon after the review began, it was determined that Walsh would be disqualified for executing an illegal turn during the transition.
The disqualification was due to Walsh not finishing the backstroke on her back as she made the turn into the wall to begin the breaststroke segment.
NBC swimming analyst Rowdy Gaines explained, “She rolls over…she went past vertical, that’s the problem. The head has to come back and cannot go past that 90-degree mark.”
As a consequence of the disqualification, Kate Douglass was awarded the silver medal with a time of 2:06.92, just over three-tenths of a second behind Canada’s Summer McIntosh, who set an Olympic record with a time of 2:06.56 to claim the gold. Australia’s Kaylee McKeown received the bronze medal following Walsh’s disqualification.
The Team USA swimmer reflects on her performance in the 200m breaststroke at the 2024 Paris Olympics.