The women’s 200 meter breaststroke final was interesting in the fact that no American qualified for the final, something that hadn’t occurred in a final in these Olympic Games. But that didn’t mean there wasn’t some intrigue ahead of the race, with Russia’s Yulia Efimova being one of the eight finalists.
After taking silver in the 100 meter breaststroke Efimova had to settle for another silver in the 200 breast, as Japan’s Rie Kaneto got off to a better start and ultimately managed to hold off Efimova to take the gold medal. Kaneto, who finished in 2:20.30, beat Efimova by more than 1.