American swimmer King beats bitter rival

RIO DE JANEIRO — After all the bad blood, all the debate over Yulia Efimova being allowed to swim at the Olympics, Lilly King was the one wearing gold.

The American won the 100-meter breaststroke on Monday night, holding off the reigning world champion from Russia in what some will surely call a victory of clean athletes over the dopers.

Efimova arrived in Rio as one of the symbols of the massive Russian doping scandal, an athlete who had already served a 16-month suspension and tested positive again this year for the now-banned substance meldonium.

Efimova was initially banned from the Olympics, but that decision was overturned on appeal. King took umbrage at Efimova’s finger wag during the semifinals and said she intended “to compete clean for the U.S.”

After staring down Efimova in the ready room and giving her a look of disdain on deck, King led all the way to take the gold with a time of 1 minute, 4.93 seconds.

Efimova, who heard a round of boos and a few cheers during the introductions, settled for the silver in 1:05.50. The bronze went to another American, Katie Meili.

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