“Alia Atkinson made swimming history” ……
Alia Atkinson of Jamaica poses with her gold medal after winning the women’s 100 breaststroke during the 12th FINA World Swimming Championships in Doha, Qatar, on Dec. 6, 2014. (Karim Jaafar/Getty Images)
Alia Atkinson made swimming history on Saturday by becoming the first black woman to win a world swimming title: the women’s 100 breaststroke at the world short-course championships in Doha, Qatar.
Atkinson, who swims for Jamaica, tied the world record with a time of 1 minute, 2.36 seconds, which, according to the standards of the international swimming governing body FINA, counts as its own record. Even Atkinson was surprised at her win.
“I couldn’t believe it. It came down to the same thing as the 50, and on the 50 I got out-touched, so in my mind I went straight back to that,” Atkinson told Agence France-Presse after the race. “I just thought, ‘Oh, OK’ and looked…
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