Maya DiRado beats Hungary's Iron Lady to win 200m backstroke gold in Rio
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Maya DiRado put a great exclamation point on her one and only Olympic Games, just beating out Hungary's Katinka Hosszu to win gold in the 200-meter backstroke final at the Rio Games.
The 200m back was considered DiRado's weakest event, but the Stanford grad eventually caught up with three-time gold medal winner Hosszu — known as the Iron Lady for her grueling schedule — and and pulled out a 2:05.99 time for the win.
DiRado's surprise win came to the delight of many on social media:
It was a great Olympic Games for the 23-year-old DiRado, who also won gold in the 4 x 200m freestyle relay, and then silver and bronze (behind Hosszu) in the 400- and 200m individual medleys, respectively.
Yep. THAT close. #Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/iqoYkXDiJz
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) August 13, 2016
WAIT MAYA BEAT THE TERMINATOR!!! YAAAAAASSSSS!! WAY TO GO MAYA @USASwimming
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) August 13, 2016
Race of the meet!! Way to go @MayaDiRado ??
— Conor Dwyer (@conorjdwyer) August 13, 2016
I WOULDNT BE AMERICAN IF I DIDNT SAY TO MAYA!! TOKYO TOKYO!! @USASwimming
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) August 13, 2016
WAY TO GO @MayaDiRado????❤️!!! Keeping the 200 back in the country☺️? Couldn't be more proud of you!
— Missy Franklin (@missyfranklin) August 13, 2016