USA's Maya DiRado upsets 'Iron Lady' to win gold in 200 backstroke
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RIO DE JANEIRO — In a flurry of strokes and a stretch of the hand, American Maya DiRado pulled off a massive upset of Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu to win 200-meter backstroke gold on Friday.
DiRado was a half-second behind Hosszu at the final turn before surging late and reaching the wall with a lunge just before the “Iron Lady” to finish with a time of 2:05:99. Hosszu came in second at 2:06:05. Canada’s Hilary Caldwell took bronze with a time of 2:07:54.
“I definitely saw [Hosszu] and that’s all you can ask for in that last 50 – to be in a battle for a gold medal,” DiRado said. “I didn’t know who was gonna get their hand on there first but I was just thrashing my body as hard as I could. My legs totally seized up, but to look up and see the ‘1’ next to my name was just so unreal and I can’t believe I did it.
“It’s more than a dream come true and beyond what I ever hoped for. I just wanted to medal in three of my events, and then I got put on a relay and that was the biggest honor of my life. And now to get that, I just don’t even know what’s happening right now.”
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With the win, DiRado now has four medals in the Rio Games. She won gold in the 4×200-meter freestyle event with Allison Schmitt, Leah Smith and Katie Ledecky, but finished behind Hosszu to take silver in the 400-meter individual medley and bronze in the 200-meter individual medley.
DiRado was the first and only person to best the “Iron Lady” in the pool at the Rio Games. Hosszu had won gold in the 200 and 400 individual medleys, and the 100-meter backstroke, but had to settle on silver in the 200 backstroke after DiRado’s late push.
“I swam my race and Maya was faster tonight,” Hosszu said. “I’ve won four medals in this Olympics, so it’s crazy.”
