American scream

Cocky King claims women will scoop pool

AT an Olympics where everything is eerily quiet, one familiar noise still blasts through the silence.

It is the sound of the American swimming team blowing its own trumpet.

Showing it hasn’t learnt from Sydney 2000, the US has been at it again, casually dismissing the chances of its opposition by counting gold medals before the races have even taken place.

Reviving memories of Gary Hall Jr’s gaffe from two decades ago – when he wrongly bragged that the Americans were going to smash the Aussies like guitars – Lilly King claimed the US women would win every individual gold medal in women’s swimming in Tokyo.

It’s such an outrageous prediction that Las Vegas bookmakers are betting heavily that America’s top female swimmers will lose far more races than they win, especially after giving their rivals a free motivational leg-up.

The Americans were given taste of what to expect in

Tokyo when Katie Ledecky was beaten by Australia’s Ariarne Titmus at the 2019 world championships and then Regan Smith lost her 100m backstroke world record to Queensland sensation Kaylee McKeown last month.

But the message still hasn’t sunk in, and even senior US coaches have doubled down on King’s goofy comments.

“What I love about what Lilly said is that is who she is, that is her personality, she is competitive,” the US women’s head coach Greg Meehan said. “That is someone we want on Team USA. She’s great on relays and, regardless of the context of that, the reality is, that competitive spirit is what Team USA is all about.

“(When) we get into international competition, that competitive spirit is what drives us. And it doesn’t matter whether it’s Australia or Team GB or China or Japan or whoever it may be, it’s about being the best that we can be as Team USA.”

If gold medals were handed out for bluster, the Americans would be unbeatable and they have the track record to prove it.

While the Dolphins haven’t won a single individual Olympic gold medal in women’s swimming since Beijing in 2008, the US has topped the medals tables in swimming at the past seven Olympics, but the tide is turning.

All the latest data suggests the US could be knocked off the top perch.