The most unlikely person to medal for the U.S. swim team now adds a gold medal to sit beside her silver. USC's Rebecca Soni is a replacement swimmer that has made the most of her opportunities in Beijing. After narrowly missing out on a gold medal in the 100-meter breaststroke, she claimed the silver by the smallest of margins. For someone who wasn't supposed to be here, that medal alone could have made the trip successful and worthwhile. But not for Soni, who last night, in the spirit of Troy, continued to "fight on", swimming to a gold medal in the 200-meter breatstroke in a world record time of 2:20:.22, and upsetting the Australian favorite, and now former world record holder, Leisel Jones.
Both women shot out quickly, swimming above the world record pace. Jones secured the early lead, seeming to pull away from Soni, but never more than half a body length. Going into the final turn, Soni surged forward, catching the Aussie in the last 25 meters and completing the upset. A women that could have easily found herself watching the Olympics from home, suddenly found herself on the medal podium for the second time. But in this instance, she stood atop, as her national anthem played.
Where Michael Phelps is the biggest story of Olympic swimming, Rebecca Soni represents the biggest underdog story, and this dog had some bite.
Fight On!
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