Lilly King stared toward Yulia Efimova before the race. She glanced at her afterward.
In between, King handed her Russian rival another beating, this time in world-record fashion at the world championships in Budapest on Tuesday.
King won the 100m breaststroke in 1:04.13 to back up her Olympic 100m breast title with her first world title.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better race,” King said on NBCSN of lowering the mark of 1:04.35 held by Ruta Meilutyte. “I’ve been waiting on that time for a while.”
Countrywoman Katie Meili earned silver in 1:05.