South African Tatjana Smith won the women's 100m Olympic breaststroke gold on Monday with a late surge to clinch a thrilling battle.
The 200m breaststroke winner in Tokyo triumphed with a time of 1:05.28 ahead of China's Tang Qianting with Ireland's Mona McSharry taking the bronze.
The 27-year-old from Johannesburg had won silver in the event in Tokyo but found a late kick to power past Tang and touch first.
The 20-year-old Tang, world champion in the event in Doha this year, had set the fourth fastest ever time with 1:04.39 at the Chinese national championships in April.
Disappointing campaign for US swimmer
McSharry's bronze was Ireland's first medal at Paris and their first in swimming since Michelle Smith's wins in Atlanta in 1996.
It was a disappointing result for American Lilly King, the 27-year-old from Indiana, who was the 2016 gold medal winner in the event in Rio and finished with a bronze in Tokyo.
King set the current world record of 1:04.13 at the 2017 world championships, breaking the four-year-old mark set by Lithuanian Ruta Meilutyte.
She had hoped to regain her crown this week but narrowly missed out on the podium, finishing in fourth place.
➤ Click here to follow our WhatsApp channel for more stories.
