A 17-Year-Old From ALASKA Came Out Of Nowhere To Win A Gold Medal And The State Went Bonkers

• American Lydia Jacoby came out of nowhere to win gold in Tokyo.
• She made history as the first Olympian swimmer from the state of Alaska.
• Click HERE for more Tokyo 2020 coverage!

Alaska is not a hot bed for swimming but Lydia Jacoby doesn’t care what history has to say. The 17-year-old senior in high school hails from Seward, a town of 2,773, and just won a gold medal.

Jacoby swims the 100-meter breast stroke and came out of nowhere on the final 50 meters. She trains in a 25-meter pool — because there is only one Olympic-sized pool in the ENTIRE STATE — so it would make sense that her push would be insane.

As Jacoby came across the line, her hometown and her family went nuts.

Not only was it an epic win, but it was historic. Jacoby became the first swimmer from the state of Alaska by competing, and the first to win gold by taking down South Africa’s Tatjana Schoenmaker, who took silver, and the United States’ Lilly King, who took bronze.

They were pumped for Jacoby.

King was considered the slight favorite in the race after years of dominance, so it was also something of a changing of the guard.

For Jacoby to qualify for the United States was something of a surprise. For her to push down the final stretch like that was absolutely epic.

There is not much sun during the winter in Alaska. Swimmers go to their morning practices in the dark and get home from night practices in the dark. It’s not an ideal environment for swimmers but Jacoby is the exception.

She will head to Texas as a freshman this year. Hook ’em.