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Torri Huske of the United States bagged her maiden Olympic gold in the Paris Olympics after besting her compatriot and world record holder Gretchen Walsh in a 100m butterfly faceoff on Sunday. Huske's victory also marks the first individual gold for the United States in the ongoing French Games.
Huske finished the race in 55.59 seconds to win the gold, while Walsh had to settle for a silver with a time of 55.63 seconds. With this, Huske added the third overall Olympic medal to her trophy cabinet following a silver she earned on day 1 of the Paris Games in the 4x100m freestyle relay.
21-year-old Huske made her Olympic debut at the 2020 Tokyo Games when she was just 18 years old, and she was part of the pack that broke the USA women’s 100m butterfly record twice at the Olympic trials at the time. Here are some lesser-known facts about Torri Huske, the American Olympic champion in Paris.
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#5 Torri Huske became a world champion at the age of 19
After helping Team United States clinch a silver at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Torri Huske participated in the 2022 World Championships in Budapest. There, she claimed the world title in the 100m butterfly after breaking her own national record with a finish of 55.64 seconds. She then contributed to her team's gold medal victories in the 4x100 medley and the 4x100 mixed medley relay events at the competition.
#4 Swimming was not the sport she liked in her childhood
The Virginia native didn't enjoy swimming as a child. She explained that she felt cold all the time, which made her dislike the sport. Instead, she preferred activities like ice skating, soccer, running, and Taekwondo.
#3 Torri Huske draws inspiration from her mother
The Olympian was born to a Chinese mother, Ying Weng Huske, who shifted to the United States to study engineering at Virginia Tech. However, Weng Huske later dropped the idea of engineering and instead became an IT professional. Furthermore, Huske's mother has also served in the U.S. Navy. Talking about deriving inspiration from her mother, the swimmer once stated (via Olympics.com):
"I feel like she is a really big inspiration to me. Yeah, I’m just lucky to have her. I feel like I’m living out my American Dream."
#2 Huske is a talented painter
When she's not dominating the pool, Torri Huske can be found in front of a canvas, putting her creative muscles to work. While visiting the Stanford campus, she stayed at a friend's grandparents' house, which she described as "really beautiful." She later captured the beauty of the house in pictures and transformed them into one of her exquisite paintings.
#1 She coached under Greg Meehan, who has mentored Olympians like Katie Ledecky and Simone Manuel
Torri Huske has trained under the guidance of Greg Meehan at Stanford University. Meehan was the coach for the US Women's Olympic Swimming Team at the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Under his tenure, Katie Ledecky secured four golds and a silver in Rio and two golds and two silvers in Tokyo. Meanwhile, Simone Manuel earned two golds and two silvers in Rio and a bronze in Tokyo.
