On paper, Katinka Hosszu was destined to win her fourth gold medal of these Olympics. The Hungarian had already set a World/Olympic Record in the 400 IM, set an Olympic Record in the 200 IM, and was just as golden by setting the National Record for Hungary in the 100-meter backstroke final. Maya DiRado of the United States was second to Hosszu in the 400 IM and took bronze in the 200 IM.
However, paper is meaningless in all contexts of sports whether be on the court, the field, in the arena, or in a pool. DiRado threw out all the papers that had written in Hosszu’s name for gold and put her own there, stunning the Hungarian by six-hundredths of a second for gold in the women’s 200-meter backstroke with a time of 2:05.99.
The Field
Just in the semifinals. Hosszu made it known she was going to be the clear favorite to take home gold number four from Rio, swimming over a second faster than anyone else. Canada’s Hilary Caldwell was the second-fastest qualifier while veteran Kirsty Coventry was looking to make some noise despite being the oldest woman in the field.
Hosszu Out Fast
Early on, the Hungarian was trying to set the tone, establishing an early lead on DiRado before the American came back on her just a bit. Hosszu was under World Record pace by just under two-tenths while the American was behind three-tenths on the Hungarian. Eygló Ósk Gústafsdóttir of Iceland had a strong 50 but was over half a second behind the leader.
Hosszu began to establish more of a lead in the second 50. The three-time gold medalist from these games had over half a second lead on DiRado at the halfway mark. Caldwell from Canada fought back but was over a second back.
DiRado was looking to make up some ground in the second to last 50, but Hosszu was having none of it. Her lead was still just under half a second while Caldwell was all but out of it as she was 1.7 seconds back.
DiRado Tracks Down The Hungarian For Gold
The American had a great final turn as Hosszu began to hurt ever so slightly. With 25 meters to go, DiRado moved up close enough to challenge Hosszu who was in her sights as the two would battle it out for gold. With about five meters to go, the slight edge went to the Hungarian as it looked like she was going to capture gold. However, the finish was the key as the American made a full lunge to the wall to stun Hosszu and deny her a fourth gold in these Games. Caldwell of Canada finished with the bronze.
This was a first and last Olympics for DiRado, saying earlier that she wanted to test how good she was against the best in the world. She more than proved that she can hang with them, winning two golds, her first came in the 4x200 free relay, a silver, and a bronze. She will retire and has a lucrative job as a business analyst set up in Atlanta after these Games.
DiRado said, "This whole day has been kind of crazy because it's all of these little last things that I've gotten to do, like my last warmup with the girls at the training pool today.I wrote my parents an email this morning just saying thank you, and I started bawling on my bed, and then my roommates came in and comforted me. I tried to keep it all under control, but there's been a lot of tears these last 24 hours.”