Olympic swimming: Tatjana Smith takes silver in 200m breaststroke

South Africa’s Tatjana Smith claimed her second medal of the Paris Olympics but missed out on a golden double after finishing second in the final of the women’s 200m breaststroke.

Smith, the defending champion from the Tokyo Olympics, was looking to add the 200m crown to the 100m title she won on Monday.

But in a tight contest it was the USA’s Kate Douglass who ultimately pipped her, having led for the majority of the race and making the most of a series of strong turns.

Tes Schouten of the Netherlands finished third to take the bronze medal.

Douglass’ winning time of two minutes 19.24 seconds was 0.36 seconds faster than Smith, helping the American gain revenge for last year’s World Championships in Japan where it was Smith who took gold ahead of her rival.

The result in La Defense Arena means that the 27-year-old from Johannesburg, who previously competed under her maiden name Schoenmaker, now has a total of four Olympic breaststroke medals, having collected a gold and a silver in both Tokyo and now Paris.

It means she has now drawn level with fellow swimmer Chad Le Clos as her country’s most decorated Olympian.

Her two medals at the current Games, combined with bronze medals in men’s rugby sevens and men’s cross-country mountain biking, mean South Africa has won four medals in total and leads Africa’s medal table at the end of Day 6.

Africa’s other medals both came in fencing, with Egypt’s Mohamed Elsayed taking bronze in the men’s individual epee and Fares Ferjani of Tunisia claiming silver in the men’s individual sabre.