USA's Kate Douglass wins Olympic gold in women's 200-meter breaststroke

American Kate Douglass won the gold medal in the women's 200-meter breaststroke at the Paris Olympics on Thursday, beating defending champion Tatjana Smith of South Africa.

Douglass, 22, finished the race in 2:19.24, just 0.36 seconds ahead of Smith, who took silver. Tes Schouten of the Netherlands won bronze.

It marked the fourth gold medal of the Games for American swimmers, to go along with 11 silver medals and six bronzes.

Veteran U.S. star Lilly King, who is competing in her final Olympics, finished last, and according to the Associated Press, made her way over several lanes to give a hug to Douglas after the race.

Douglass, who hails from Pelham, New York , captured her first Olympic gold medal and her second of the Paris Games following her silver medal in the women's 4x100 meters freestyle.

Her win comes a day after American star Katie Ledecky won gold in the 1,500-meter freestyle, claiming a record-tying 12th Olympic medal in women's swimming.

Douglass, who previously won a bronze in the 200-meter individual medley at Tokyo, graduated from the University of Virginia, where she was an NCAA champion swimmer.