PARIS, July 28 (Xinhua) -- Torri Huske upstaged United States teammate and world record holder Gretchen Walsh to win a thrilling women's 100m butterfly final at the Paris Olympics on Sunday.
Huske clinched the United States' second swimming gold medal of these Games by touching the wall in 55.59 seconds at Paris La Defense Arena, just four hundredths of a second ahead of Walsh.
China's Zhang Yufei, a silver medallist in this event at the Tokyo 2020 Games, took bronze in 56.21.
For Huske, it represented redemption after she missed out on a medal in this event at the Tokyo Olympics by one hundredth of a second.
After an unremarkable start, the 21-year-old powered home in the last 50m as Walsh appeared to tire.
"Last time I just missed the podium and I'm not going to lie, that was devastating," Huske said.
"But I think it really fueled me and made me better. The same goes for last year. I had a really rough summer. I knew they weren't the best races I could put together. It was a really hard road, but I had an amazing support system. I've had my family, my friends and teammates to push me every day."
Walsh, who set a world record in the event at the US Olympic trials in June and broke the Olympic record in Saturday's semifinal, said she had hoped for better.
"It wasn't exactly the time I was looking for, I feel like I am capable of more," Walsh said.
"But just to be here at the Olympics, get a silver medal, nobody can complain about that, and I'm really proud of myself for showing up tonight, putting my best foot forward and racing with a great field." ■
