Kate Douglass Wins Gold in 200 Breaststroke

PARIS – Virginia women’s swimming alumna Kate Douglass won gold in the 200 Breaststroke on Thursday (Aug. 1) in the swimming competition at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games being held at the Paris La Defense Arena in Paris, France.

Douglass won the race in 2:19.24, breaking her own American record in the event.

Douglass is the first Cavalier across all women’s sports to win an individual gold medal at the Olympic games. All previous Cavalier golds were won in team sports and relays.

This was Douglass’s second career individual Olympic medal after winning bronze at Tokyo 2020 in the 200 IM. She was the silver medalist in the 200 Breast at the World Championships earlier this year.

This is Douglass’s second medal at Paris 2024 after winning silver in the 4×100 Free Relay. It is the second gold medal for the American women in swimming at Paris 2024.

Douglass was the top seed in the final after posting a 2:19.74 in Wednesday’s semifinal. In the final, she finished 0.36 ahead of South Africa’s Tatjana Smith. Tes Schouten of the Netherlands took the bronze with a 2:21.05.

Douglass set the previous American record of 2:19.30 in the 200 Breast in February of this year at the TYR Pro Swim Series in Knoxville, Tenn.

Douglass, who graduated in 2023, was a two-time Honda Award Winner for Swimming, two-time CSCAA Swimmer of the Year and two-time ACC Swimmer of the Year. She helped Virginia to three straight NCAA Team Championships, winning seven career individual NCAA titles and eight NCAA relay golds. She was a 28-time All-American and a 28-time All-ACC performer.