Atkinson first black to win a world title
ALIA Atkinson became the first black woman to win a world title when she triumphed in the 100m breaststroke at the world short-course championships in Doha, Qatar, on Saturday as more records tumbled.
Jamaican Atkinson, 25, claimed the title and equalled Ruta Meilutyte’s world record of 1min 02.36sec in the process, although under governing body FINA rules this still equates to a new record. That took the total of world records set at the Hamad Aquatic Centre to 17.
Meilutyte appeared on course for a successful defence of her title only for her rival to move on to the Lithuanian’s shoulder at the final turn. Atkinson then clawed her way down the final length before out-touching the 17-year-old by 0.10sec.
“Me?,” she mouthed, pointing at herself before the enormity of her achievement was absorbed. “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,” she said.
“I just thought ‘oh okay,’ and looked up at the board and it didn’t really click yet and then it really started to click. It took a while!”
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