American swimmer Kate Douglass won the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the women’s 200-meter breaststroke with a record time of 2 minutes 19.24 seconds by applying the statistical knowledge she has learned to swimming.
Douglass used the knowledge she gained during her statistics studies to overcome stiff competition from world champion Schouten Test of the Netherlands and reigning Olympic champion Tatjana Smith of South Africa.
Smith, who was hoping to retire with two golds after winning the 100m breaststroke in the previous race, started fast and led inside the first 50m.
However, Douglass took over the lead on the next lap and never relinquished it until reaching the finish wall.
Douglass said he applied statistics by calculating each breaststroke stroke in the 200-meter race.
“I feel like the last few times, at least, when I’ve run 2:19, I’ve had a certain amount of movement that I’ve stuck to. So I know if I stick to that plan, I can run 2:19 again,” Douglass was quoted as saying on the official Paris 2024 Olympics website.
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“When I started really focusing on the 200-meter breaststroke, I realized that every time I swam that race, I was doing a certain stroke count. Or sometimes, if I deviated from that stroke count, then the race didn’t go as planned,” continued the swimmer who earned a bachelor’s degree in statistics in 2023.
Douglass’ time at the 2024 Paris Olympics bettered her own U.S. record of 2 minutes 19.30 seconds. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Douglass clocked 2 minutes 19.24 seconds. Smith finished 0.36 seconds behind her in 2 minutes 19.60 seconds, while Schouten was third in 2 minutes 21.05 seconds.
“It’s incredible, the times we’re seeing,” Smith said. “He pushes me to be a better version of myself and I couldn’t ask for anything more than that.” (Ant/Z-1)
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