Lydia Jacoby won a shock Gold at 17 years of age in the Women?s 100m breaststroke final. The high school student from Alaska herself couldn?t believe what she had just accomplished. Imagine going back to your hometown with a population of 3,000 people as an Olympic gold medallist.
She is the first Alaskan swimmer to win gold at the Olympics. Lydia caused a huge upset, beating her teammate Lilly King, who was in search of defending her gold from the Rio Olympics.?
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Lydia Jacoby stuns the world?
Lydia?s parents are both boat captains and she learned how to swim at a very young age. Her parents taught her to swim so she would feel safer in the water. They never thought at that time that this decision would make their daughter an Olympic Gold Medallist one day.???
Lydia Jacoby. 17 years old. From ALASKA. Just won a gold medal. IN SWIMMING.
ALASKA. SWIMMING. #Swimming #Olympics pic.twitter.com/LweqcwOE3c
— TJ Eckert (@TJEckertKTUL) July 27, 2021
Lydia Jacoby surprised everyone, including herself, when she finished ahead of South Africa?s Tatjana Schoenmaker and defending Olympic gold medallist Lilly King. The camera panned towards Lydia’s face as she looked up at the scoreboard and was in shock.?
We see Lydia saying ‘wow’ as her teammate and fellow competitors swim over to congratulate her. Every swimmer in that pool knew what it meant for Lydia to win a Gold at her first-ever Olympics at the age of 17.?
Utter shock and disbelief?
“I was definitely racing for a medal. I knew I had it in me,” Jacoby said. She shocked herself, “I wasn’t really expecting a gold medal, so when I looked up and saw the scoreboard it was insane.”
As soon as the results flashed on the scoreboard, teammate Lilly King swam over to her, slapping the water with joy. Both the Americans looked elated. Soon after her win, a video went viral on Twitter.?
STAND UP ALASKA!
17-year-old Lydia Jacoby WINS GOLD, and everybody's celebrating! #TokyoOlympics x @USASwimming
📺: NBC
💻: https://t.co/GFrdWbcFoO
📱: NBC Sports App pic.twitter.com/leYOC2Mzju— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) July 27, 2021
The video shows the reaction of a watch party in her hometown of Seward in Alaska. We see people running and jumping as they cheer the 17-year-old on. Her parents were also at another watch party in Orlando. We can see her mother ecstatically recording the moment on her iPad.?
What a beautiful moment for Lydia Jacoby and her hometown of Seward as they will look to welcome their Olympic champion back home.
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