It initially looked like a double-podium finish for Team USA in the women’s 200m individual medley, but it wasn’t meant to be, with one of the swimmers getting disqualified after the race.
Kate Douglass and Alex Walsh appeared to finish second and third, respectively, in Saturday’s race, which would have added two more medals for the U.S. in the pool at the Paris Olympics.
However, shortly after the race concluded, officials announced they were reviewing part of Walsh’s race, focusing on one of her turns as she was finishing the backstroke and transitioning into the breaststroke.
Kate Douglass and Team USA advanced to the 4x100m medley relay final after placing 2nd in heats.
Moments later, officials determined Walsh would be disqualified for a maneuver deemed to be an illegal turn.
So what did Walsh do to get disqualified? Apparently, she did not finish the backstroke on her back while making the turn into the wall to begin the breaststroke portion.
“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,” said NBC swimming analyst Rowdy Gaines after the race. “From that angle, that looks like the right call.”
As a result of the disqualification, Kate Douglass took second place 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 earn the gold. Australia’s Kaylee McKeown claimed the bronze following the disqualification.
The Team USA swimmer reflects on her performance in the 200m breaststroke in the 2024 Paris Olympics.