Columbia Graduate Wins Olympic Bronze Medal in Dramatic 100-Meter Breaststroke Race

MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS, NY — A former Columbia University swimmer won a bronze medal Monday in the women's 100-meter breaststroke event. Katie Meili finished the race with a time of 1:05.69 edging out China's Shi Jinglin by less than one second for the final spot on the podium.

With her win, Meili, a 2013 graduate, becomes the first Columbia student athlete to medal since 2008 and the second member of the swimming and diving program to medal since 2000, according to the Columbia Athletics website.

Meili finished just .22 seconds behind fellow Team USA member Lily King, who won gold in the event and set a new Olympic record with a time of 1:04.93. Russia's Yulia Efimova came in second place with a time of 1:05.50.

Coming into the race King and Efimova dominated the headlines due to a rivalry that heated up during the preliminary rounds of the event. The rivalry focused on the International Olympic Committee's decision to reinstate Efimova for the race after she had initially been banned due to the Russian doping scandal. King was strongly opposed to the IOC's decision to let Efimova race, and let everyone know it when she wagged her finger at Efimova after winning a semifinal heat.

Meili was able to deliver a strong enough performance to medal in her only event in the Rio 2016 Olympics.

“This crowd was amazing," Meili told NBC after the race. "I was really trying to use it to support me, and lift me up and get me to that wall. I’m so happy, so happy."

As a member of Columbia's swim team, Meili won a bronze medal in the 100-yard breaststroke at the 2013 NCAA Championship in 2013, according to her USA swimming profile. In 2015 Meili won her first national championship in the 100-meter breaststroke event.

Meili was born in Colleyville, Texas.

[Photo: Team USA]