Jacoby withdraws from 200M breaststroke prelim, nixing Olympic chances

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Less than 24 hours after missing out on an automatic spot in her signature event, Seward’s Lydia Jacoby announced via social media Tuesday that she will be missing the 2024 Paris Olympics altogether.

Jacoby posted on her Instagram page, which has over 116,000 followers, stating that she made the decision to scratch from the women’s 200-meter breaststroke event, which is slated to start Wednesday with a round of preliminary heats. The final is scheduled for Thursday.

“I am not defined by my results. I am more than an athlete. I will be back. And I will be better,” the post read.

The 20-year-old Jacoby finished third Monday in the women’s 100-meter breaststroke final, missing out on qualifying for the 2024 Olympics in the event that she won a shocking gold medal in Tokyo in 2021, when she was just 17 and still in high school.

Jacoby’s coaches told Alaska’s News Source on Monday that she was still deciding on whether she would compete in the longer 200-meter event.

Jacoby ended her Instagram post with a supportive message for the rest of Team USA.

“I wish the best of luck to my incredible teammates in Paris and will be cheering loudly from home [heart emoji] go USA!!!”

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