Rūta Meilutytė (; born 19 March 1997) is a Lithuanian swimmer. An Olympic gold medalist, she is a

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

holder in the short course 50 metre breaststroke, 100 metre breaststroke and long course 50 metre breaststroke. She is a former world record holder in the long course 100 metre breaststroke. At the age of 15, Meilutytė, based in Britain at Plymouth College and the associated Plymouth Leander Swimming Club under the guidance of a coaching team led by Jon Rudd, had already broken eleven Lithuanian women's swimming records. At the 2011 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival in

Trabzon Trabzon, historically known as Trebizond, is a city on the Black Sea coast of northeastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. The city was founded in 756 BC as "Trapezous" by colonists from Miletus. It was added into the Achaemenid E ...

, she won the gold medal in the 100m breaststroke, a silver in the 50m freestyle and a bronze in the 100m freestyle. At the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in London, Meilutytė won the gold medal in the women's 100 metre breaststroke with a time of 1:05.47. At age 15, she was also the youngest Lithuanian athlete to win an Olympic gold medal. In 2013 Meilutytė broke her own European record by 0.01 of a second. Meilutytė competed at the

2013 World Aquatics Championships The 15th FINA World Championships (, ) were held from 20 July to 4 August in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

and achieved world records in the 50 and 100 metre breaststroke. At the age of 17 she became the first swimmer in history to win all available junior and senior international swimming championships at least once. From July 2019 to July 2021, Meilutytė served a 24-month suspension for anti-doping rule violations between April 2018 and March 2019. She returned to national competition in December 2021.

Early and personal life

Meilutytė was born in

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

, on 19 March 1997, the daughter of Saulius Meilutis and Ingrida Meilutienė. Meilutytė has two older brothers, Margiris (age 26 as of 2018), who is a

law student Legal education is the education of individuals in the principles, practices, and theory of law. It may be undertaken for several reasons, including to provide the knowledge and skills necessary for admission to legal practice in a particular j ...

, and Mindaugas (age 30 as of 2018). Meilutytė began swimming at the age of seven. Although not particularly tall, she has had size 43 feet (EU) since she was 13 years old. Meilutytė went to Kaunas "Milikoniai" middle-school from ages 6–13. In 2025, she told the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's ''

Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek language, Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any Obtuse angle, wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography (panoramic photography), film, seismic image ...

'' that she had been bullied "left broken" by her former coach, Jon Rudd, and that his "toxic training environment and controlling food culture" had contributed to Meilutytė developing depression and an eating disorder.

Career

Early career

In 2011, she broke her first Lithuanian swimming record in the women's 50m and 100 meters breaststroke.

2012: Olympic and double World champion at 15 years of age

2012 Summer Olympics

Lithuanian swimming squad at 2012 Olympic Games

After earning selection to compete at the

, Rūta Meilutytė became the youngest Lithuanian swimmer to compete at the modern

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

. In her first event, the 100 metre breaststroke heats, Meilutytė placed first, with a time of 1:05.56, and broke the national Lithuanian swimming record for the 100 metre breaststroke. At the 100 metre breaststroke semi-finals, Meilutytė also placed first, by breaking her previously set Lithuanian swimming record and she also broke the women's 100 metre breaststroke European record, with a time of 1:05.21. She then won the gold medal in the final with a time of 1:05.47, at of age. Meilutytė also competed in the 50m freestyle, where she failed to progress to the semi-final despite winning her heat and setting a new national record of 25.55 seconds, and the 100m freestyle. During the 41st European Olympic Committees (EOC) General Assembly, Meilutytė was named 2012 best European young athlete of the year.

2012 World Swimming Championships

At the 2012 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, Meilutytė competed in four events: 50 metre breaststroke, 100 metre breaststroke, 100 metre freestyle and 100 metre individual medley. In her first event, 50 metre breaststroke heats, Meilutytė placed first, with a time of 29.56 seconds, and broke the national Lithuanian swimming record, European record and Championship record for the women's 50 metre breaststroke (short-course). In the 50 metre breaststroke semi-finals, Meilutytė also placed first, by breaking the same records again, with a time of 29.51 seconds. During the 50 metre breaststroke final, she won the gold medal, by beating Alia Atkinson (29.62) and Jessica Hardy (29.82) with a time of 29.44 seconds and for the third time broke all three records for the women's 50 metre breaststroke (short-course). At the 100 metre freestyle, where she progressed to the semi-final by placing 5th in her heat and setting a new national record of 53.54 seconds. Due to the fact that the semi-finals of women's 100 metre freestyle were held just 19 minutes before the 50 metre breaststroke final, Meilutytė withdrew from the 100 metre freestyle semi-finals because of the schedule being too tight. Meilutytė also competed in the 100 metre individual medley. During the 100 metre individual medley heats, Meilutytė placed second and set a new national record of 59.33 seconds. In the 100 metre individual medley semi-finals she placed third and again set a new national record of 59.15 seconds. In the final of the same event, Meilutytė won the silver medal and for the third time set a new national record of 58.79 seconds. On the third day of the Championships, Meilutytė competed in 100 metre breaststroke heats, where she placed first and set a new national record of 1:04.69. At the 100 metre breaststroke semi-finals she placed second, with a time of 1:04.81. On 15 December, Meilutytė competed in her last event of the 2012 FINA World Swimming Championships – the 100 metre breaststroke finals, and won her second gold medal in this championship, with a time of 1:03.52, and broke the national Lithuanian swimming record, European record and Championship record (which was previously held by Rebecca Soni) for the women's 100 metre breaststroke (short-course). During this championship, Meilutytė broke various national Lithuanian swimming records nine times, European – four times and Championship records also four times.

2013: Three world records as a 16-year-old

2013 World Aquatics championships

At the

2013 World Aquatics Championships The 15th FINA World Championships (, ) were held from 20 July to 4 August in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.100 metre breaststroke heats, where she placed first with a time of 1:04.52, and broke the national Lithuanian swimming record, European record and Championship record for the 100 metre breaststroke (long course). On the same day in the 100 metre breaststroke semi-finals Meilutytė broke the World record in 100 metre breaststroke, finishing with a time of 1:04.35 seconds and becoming the first record-holder of the championships and the first Lithuanian athlete to break a swimming world record since Lithuania gained independence from the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in 1990. During the 100 metre breaststroke final, she won the gold medal, by beating Yuliya Efimova (1:05.02) and Jessica Hardy (1:05.52) with a time of 1:04.42. Meilutytė also competed in the 100 metre freestyle, where she finished with a time of 55.72 and failed to progress to the semi-final. She also was scheduled to compete in the 50 metre freestyle, but did not start because wanted to concentrate on her next event – 50 metre breaststroke. In 50 metre breaststroke heats, Meilutytė placed third, with a time of 30.07. On the same day, during the 50 metre breaststroke semi-finals, Meilutytė placed first, with a time of 29.48, and broke world record in 50 metre breaststroke, which was previously held by Yuliya Yefimova, who broke it in the 50 metre breaststroke heats on the same day before. On the next and the last day of the championships, Meilutytė competed in 50 metre breaststroke final, where she won the silver medal with a time of 29.59.

2013 World Junior Swimming Championships

At the 2013 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

, Meilutytė competed in eight events: 50 metre freestyle, 100 metre freestyle, 50 metre breaststroke, 100 metre breaststroke, 50 metre backstroke, 50 metre butterfly, 200 metre individual medley and 4×100 metre mixed medley. In her first event, 50 metre breaststroke heats, Meilutytė qualified to the semi-final with a time of 31.10 seconds and broke Championship record. In the 50 metre breaststroke semi-finals, Meilutytė placed first, with a time of 30.04 seconds and broke 50 metre breaststroke Championship record for the second time. At the 50 metre breaststroke final, she finished first and won

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

with a time of 29.86 seconds, beating Viktorija Solnceva (31.34) and Sophie Taylor (31.38) and for the third time breaking Championship record. In the 100 metre breaststroke heats, Meilutyte placed second with a time of 1:08.62 seconds. At the 100 metre breaststroke semi-finals, she placed third with a time of 1:08.49 seconds. During 50 metre breaststroke final, she won gold medal, by beating Sophie Taylor (1:07.36) and Viktorija Solnceva (1:07.53) with a time of 1:06.61 seconds and broke Championship record for the girl's 100 metre breaststroke (long-course). In 50 metre backstroke heats, Meilutytė finished seventh with a time of 29.04 seconds, broke Lithuanian swimming record for the women's 50 metre backstroke (long-course). In the 50 metre backstroke semi-finals, she finished fourth, with a time of 28.78 seconds and broke Lithuanian record for the second time. During 50 metre backstroke final, Meilutytė placed fifth with a time of 29.03 seconds. In 50 metre freestyle heats, she finished second with a time of 25.36 seconds, while in 50 metre freestyle semi-finals, Meilutyte broke Lithuanian record and finished second with a time of 25.19 seconds. During the 50 metre freestyle final, Meilutyte won gold medal by beating Rozaliya Nasretdinova (25.16) and Siobhan Bernadette Haughey (25.38) and for the second time breaking Lithuanian swimming record for the women's 50 metre freestyle (long-course). Meilutytė also broke Lithuanian record in 50 metre butterfly heats, where she placed fifth with a time of 27.29 seconds. During 50 metre butterfly semi-finals, she finished seventh with a time of 27.14 seconds and broke Lithuanian swimming record for the second time. Meilutytė withdrew from the 50 metre butterfly final because of the great physical load. In the 100 metre freestyle heats, Meilutyte finished fourth with a time of 55.65 seconds. In the 100 metre freestyle semi-finals, she placed second with a time of 55.16 seconds, broke Lithuanian swimming record for the women's 100 metre freestyle (long-course). During 100 metre freestyle final, Meilutytė won silver medal, finishing behind Siobhan Bernadette Haughey (54.47) with a time of 54.94 seconds. In 200 metre individual medley heats, Meilutytė finished first with a time of 2:15.10 seconds. During the 200 metre individual medley final, she won gold medal, by beating Emu Higuchi (2:15.15) and Ella Eastin (2:15.34) and broke Championship and Lithuanian swimming record. Meilutyte also competed in 4×100 metre mixed medley with Danas Rapšys, Povilas Strazdas, Eva Gliožerytė. During 4×100 metre mixed medley heats, they finished third with a time of 3:55.74 seconds and qualified to the final. At the 4×100 metre mixed medley final, Meilutyte, Rapšys, Strazdas and Gliožerytė finished second and won

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

with a time of 3:52.52 seconds. During this Championship, Meilutytė broke various Championship records five times, Lithuanian records nine times and won six medals – gold medals for 50 metre freestyle, 50 metre breaststroke, 100 metre breaststroke and 200 metre individual medley, while for 100 metre freestyle and 4×100 metre mixed medley she won silver medals.

2013 Swimming World Cup

Meilutytė participated in one meet of 2013 FINA Swimming World Cup in

Moscow, Russia Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. On the overall women's scoring of the 2013 FINA Swimming World Cup, she placed fourteenth with total of 80 points. At the meet in Moscow, Meilutytė competed in four events: 50 metre breaststroke, 100 metre breaststroke, 50 metre freestyle and 100 metre individual medley. In 50 metre breaststroke heats, Meilutytė placed second with a time of 29.96 seconds. In 50 metre breaststroke final, she won gold medal, by beating Alia Atkinson (29.33) and Dorothea Brandt (30.35) with a time of 28.89 seconds and broke European swimming record for women's 50 metre breaststroke (short course) which was previously held by herself. In 100 metre breaststroke heats, Meilutytė placed third with a time of 1:06.03 seconds. In 100 metre breaststroke final, she won

, by beating Yuliya Yefimova (1:03.53) and Alia Atkinson (1:04.64) with a time of 1:02.36 and set a new world swimming record for women's 100 metre breaststroke (short course). Meilutytė also competed in 50 metre freestyle heats, where she placed tenth with a time of 25.18 seconds and did not qualify to the final. In 100 metre individual medley heats, she placed fifth with a time of 1:0.97 seconds. In 100 metre individual medley final, Meilutytė won her third gold medal at 2013 FINA Swimming World Cup, by beating Katinka Hosszú (58.75) and Alia Atkinson (59.12) with a time of 58.57 seconds. She also broke Lithuanian swimming record for women's 100 metre individual medley (short course).

2013 European Short Course Swimming Championships

At the 2013 European Short Course Swimming Championships in

Herning Herning () is a Denmark, Danish town in the Central Denmark Region of the Jutland peninsula. It is the main town and the administrative seat of Herning Municipality. Herning has a population of 51,782 (1 January 2025)

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, Meilutytė competed three events: 50 metre breaststroke, 100 metre breaststroke and 100 metre individual medley. She won gold medals and broke Championship records for all three events.

2014

2014 Summer Youth Olympics

At the

2014 Summer Youth Olympics The 2014 Summer Youth Olympics (), officially known as the II Summer Youth Olympic Games , and commonly known as Nanjing 2014 ( zh, c=南京2014, p=Nánjīng Èr Líng yī sì), were the second Youth Olympic Games, Summer Youth Olympic Games, an ...

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

, China, Meilutytė has competed in three events: 50 metre breaststroke, 100 metre breaststroke and 100 metre freestyle. In her first event, 50 metre breaststroke heats, Meilutytė placed third, with a time of 32.11 seconds. In the 50 metre breaststroke semi-finals, Meilutytė placed first, with a time of 31.67 seconds. During the 50 metre breaststroke final, she won the gold medal, by beating Julia Willers (31.78) and Anna Sztankovics (31.84) with a time of 30.14 seconds. At the 100 metre breaststroke heats, Meilutytė placed second, with a time of 1:08.97 seconds. At the 100 metre breaststroke semi-finals she placed first, with a time of 1:07.83. On the next day of the

, Meilutytė competed in 100 metre breaststroke final, where she won the gold medal with a time of 1:05.39. Meilutytė also competed in the 100 metre freestyle. During the 100 metre freestyle heats, Meilutytė placed fourth, with a time of 56.20 seconds. On the same day in the 100 metre freestyle semi-finals, where she placed fourth, with a time of 55.46 seconds. During the 100 metre freestyle final, Meilutytė placed fifth and set a new personal record of 55.17 seconds. She also was scheduled to compete in the 200 metre individual medley, but did not start due to the pain in her shoulder.

2014 European Aquatics Championships

At the 2014 European Aquatics Championships in Berlin, Germany, Meilutytė has competed in two events: 50 metre breaststroke and 50 metre freestyle. On 23 August 2014, Meilutytė competed in her first event – the 50 metre breaststroke heats, where she placed first with a time of 30.73. On the same day in the 50 metre breaststroke semi-finals Meilutytė broke the Championship record in 50 metre breaststroke, previously held by Yuliya Efimova (30.29 seconds), finishing with a time of 29.88 seconds. On 24 August 2014, Meilutytė competed in the 50 metre breaststroke final, where she won the gold medal with a time of 29.89 seconds, thus making it the last gold medal she needed to reach first ever Aquatic Grand Slam, which requires to win gold medal in swimming events at

Youth Olympic Games Youth Olympic Games is an international multi-sport event for athletes aged 15 to 18 years old. Organized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Games are held every four years in staggered summer and winter events consistent with ...

, FINA World Senior (long-course and short-course) and Junior Championships, Swimming World Cup, European Youth and Senior Championships (long-course and short-course). Meilutytė is the first Lithuanian swimmer ever to win gold medal in a long-course

European Aquatics Championships The European Aquatics Championships is the continental Aquatic sports, Aquatics championship for Europe, which is organised by Ligue Européenne de Natation, LEN—the governing body for aquatics in Europe. The Championships are currently held eve ...

. At the 50 metre freestyle, she progressed to the semi-final by placing 17th with the time of 25.54 seconds. Meilutytė decided to withdraw from the 50 metre freestyle semi-finals because she wanted to save energy for the 50 metre breaststroke final.

2014 Swimming World Cup

Meilutytė participated in two meets of the 2014 FINA Swimming World Cup – in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

and

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. On the overall women's scoring of the 2014 FINA Swimming World Cup, she placed thirteenth with total of 45 points. At the meet in Tokyo, Japan, Meilutytė competed in four events: 50 metre breaststroke, 100 metre breaststroke, 50 metre freestyle, and 100 metre individual medley. In 50 metre breaststroke heats, she placed first with a time of 29.90 seconds. During the 50 metre breaststroke final, Meilutytė won gold medal, by beating Alia Atkinson (29.66) and Lillia King (30.13) with a time of 29.36 seconds. Meilutytė also competed in 100 metre breaststroke event, where she won

with a time of 1:03.72 seconds. In 100 metre individual medley heats, Meilutytė placed sixth, with a time of 1:00.33 seconds. In the 100 metre individual medley final, she placed fourth, with a time of 59.23 seconds. In 50 metre freestyle heats, Meilutytė placed twelfth, with a time of 25.15 seconds and did not qualify to the final. Meilutytė was also scheduled to compete in 100 metre freestyle, but decided to withdraw because she wanted to prepare for the 50 metre breaststroke event. At the 2014 FINA Swimming World Cup meet in Singapore, Meilutytė competed in three events: 100 metre breaststroke, 50 metre freestyle and 100 metre individual medley. In 50 metre breaststroke heats, she placed second with a time of 30.09 seconds. In the 50 metre breaststroke final, she won a silver medal with a time of 29.26 seconds. Meilutytė also competed in the 100 metre breaststroke event. In 100 metre breaststroke heats, she finished first, beating Alia Atkinson (1:05.16) and Katie Meili (1:07.07) with a time of 1:04.89. In the 100 metre breaststroke final, Meilutytė won a

with a time of 1:03.05 seconds. In 50 metre freestyle heats, Meilutytė placed tenth with a time of 25.60 seconds and did not qualify to the final. In 100 metre individual medley heats, Meilutytė placed fourth with a time of 1:00.32 seconds. In the final, she won a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

with a time of 59.00 seconds.

2014 World Swimming Championships

At the 2014 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) in

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

, Meilutytė competed in four events: 50 metre breaststroke, 100 metre breaststroke, 100 metre freestyle and 100 metre individual medley.

2015

2015 World Aquatics championships

At the

2015 World Aquatics Championships The 16th FINA World Aquatics Championships, FINA World Championships (), also Aquatics 2015, were held in Kazan, Russia from 24 July to 9 August 2015. Russia hosted this event for the first time. The number of participating national teams (190), ...

Kazan Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...

, Russia, Meilutytė competed in two events: 50 metre breaststroke and 100 metre breaststroke.

Short hiatus

In September 2015 Meilutytė suffered an injury to her elbow while riding a bike from her home at Plymouth to her training camp. She had to undergo a small surgery, which was done by surgeon Andre Murphy. Because of this, Meilutytė had to take a break from her everyday swimming for a few weeks and then undergo rehabilitation. Because of the accident, she did not participate at the 2015 European Short Course Swimming Championships in

Netanya Netanya () () or Natanya (), is a city in the "Planet Bekasi" Central District (Israel), Setanyahu of Israel, Israel BAB ih, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa, between the Poleg stre ...

, Israel.

2016

2016 Summer Olympics

At the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, Meilutytė finished seventh in the 100 metre breaststroke.

2017

2017 World Aquatics championships

At the 2017 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Meilutytė has competed in three events: 100 metre breaststroke, 50 metre breaststroke and 50 metre freestyle. On 24 July 2017, Meilutytė competed in her first event – the 100 metre breaststroke heats, where she placed third with a time of 1:05.81. On the same day, during semi-finals Meilutytė also placed third, put up a 1:05.06, marking her fastest performance in this event since she 2013. Meilutytė finished fourth in the 100 metre breaststroke final with a 1:05.65. She was well off her previous World Record time of 1:04.35, which was broken by Lilly King, who swam a 1:04.13. Meilutytė also competed in the 50 metre freestyle heats, where she finished with a time of 26.03 and failed to progress to the semi-final. In 50 metre breaststroke heats, Meilutytė placed sixth, with a time of 30.58, to secure her spot for the semi-finals. On the evening session, she placed fourth with a time of 30.40 seconds. Meilutytė managed to finish in fourth place on the final round by twenty-one hundredths of a second (0.21) behind American Katie Meili, clocking at 30.20. Russian Yuliya Yefimova placed second and Meili's teammate Lilly King broke another World Record with a time of 29.40.

2018

2018 European Aquatics Championships

At the 2018 European Aquatics Championships in Glasgow, United Kingdom, Meilutytė competed in the 50 metre freestyle, 100 metre breaststroke, Mixed 4 × 100 metre medley relay and 50 metre breaststroke. On 3 August 2018, Meilutytė competed in her first event – the 50 metre freestyle heats, where she placed tenth with a time of 25.20. On the same day in the 50 metre freestyle semi-finals Meilutytė broke her own national record (25.10 seconds), finishing with a time of 25.04 seconds. During the 50 metre freestyle final, Meilutytė placed eighth with a time of 25.16. At the 100 metre breaststroke heats, Meilutytė placed first, with a time of 1:06.89 seconds. At the 100 metre breaststroke semi-finals she placed fifth, with a time of 1:07.16. On the next day of the 2018 European Aquatics Championships, Meilutytė competed in 100 metre breaststroke final, where she won the silver medal with a time of 1:06.26.

2019–2021: Suspension and return

Suspension due to anti-doping rule violations

In early May 2019, Meilutytė was facing at least a one-year suspension for not being present for doping tests in April 2018, August 2018, and March 2019. On 21 May 2019, Meilutytė announced her retirement from sports. Five days later, ''

Swimming World } ''Swimming World'' is a US-based quarterly swimming magazine that was first published in a magazine format as ''Junior Swimmer'' in January 1960. It concurrently runs online websites ''Swimming World Magazine'' and ''Swimming World News'' (kn ...

'' officially called her career as permanently over, with no prospects of ever returning to competition, and dubbed her actions the "Fall of an Olympic Champion".Ross, Andy (26 May 2019)
"Ruta Meilutyte: A Look Back at the Rise and Fall of an Olympic Champion"
''

''. Retrieved 30 October 2022. Four days earlier,

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division for NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, that is responsible for sports broadcasts on their broadcast network NBC, the Cable television, cable channels NBC owns, and on Peacock (streaming service) ...

propagated the same sentiment, including that she was a "shock Olympic swimming champion".OlympicTalk (22 May 2019)
"Ruta Meilutyte, shock Olympic swimming champion, retires at age 22"
''

''. Retrieved 30 October 2022. On 21 July 2019, Meilutytė was officially suspended from swimming competition by

FINA World Aquatics, formerly known as FINA (; ), is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administering international competitions in List of water sports, water sports. It is one of several interna ...

from 21 July 2019 to 20 July 2021 due to her three anti-doping rule violations of not being present for testing."FINA Doping Panel Decision – Ruta Meilutyte (LTU)"

. 12 February 2020. Retrieved 20 January 2022.

Return to competition

Returning to competition following the two year suspension, Meilutytė competed at the 2021 Lithuanian Short Course Championships in

Klaipėda Klaipėda ( ; ) is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. It is the List of cities in Lithuania, third-largest city in Lithuania, the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, fifth-largest city in the Baltic States, and the capi ...

in December in the 100 metre breaststroke, where she won the gold medal with a time of 1:05.23, the 50 metre butterfly, where she won the silver medal with a 26.69, and the 50 metre breaststroke, in which she won the gold medal in 29.33 seconds.Race, Retta (17 December 2021)
"Olympic Champion Ruta Meilutyte Is Back In The Water"
'' SwimSwam''. Retrieved 20 January 2022.

2022: World and European champion in 50 metre breaststroke

2022 World Aquatics Championships

In 2022, Meilutytė returned to training, attending a training camp with the Lithuania National Team from January to February.Keith, Braden (20 January 2022)
"2012 Olympic Champion Ruta Meilutyte Goes To Camp With Lithuanian National Team"
'' SwimSwam''. Retrieved 20 January 2022. At the long course 2022 Winter Lithuanian Championships, she won the gold medal in the 50 metre breaststroke with a 30.24 and the gold medal in the 50 metre freestyle in a time of 25.19 seconds.Race, Retta (19 February 2022)
"Meilutyte Takes Two Golds While Tetervkova Steals 200 Breast LTU Record"
'' SwimSwam''. Retrieved 19 February 2022. Two months later, she achieved a

2022 World Aquatics Championships The 2022 World Aquatics Championships, the 19th edition of the FINA World Aquatics Championships, were held in Budapest, Hungary, from 17 June to 3 July 2022. These championships included five disciplines, with high diving not staged for this edi ...

qualifying time in the 100 metre breaststroke, finishing in 1:07.07 in a silver medal-winning performance at the 2022 Lithuanian Swimming Championships.Race, Retta (22 April 2022)
"Ruta Meilutyte Hits World Championships Qualifying Time In 100 Breaststroke"
'' SwimSwam''. Retrieved 23 May 2022. At the

she won the bronze medal in the women's 100 metre breaststroke, finishing behind Anna Elendt (1:05.98) and Benedetta Pilato (1:05.93) with a time of 1:06.02.

(20 June 2022)
"19th FINA World Championships Budapest (HUN): Women's 100m Breaststroke Final Results"
'' Omega Timing''. Retrieved 20 June 2022. On 25 July, ten years after winning Olympic gold and nine years after her last world championship win, Meilutytė won a second world title, taking out the 50m breaststroke in Budapest.Hanson, Ian (25 June 2022)
"World Championships: Lithuanian Ruta Meilutyte Wins Gold in the 50m breaststroke 10 Years after Winning Olympic Gold in London"
''

''. Retrieved 26 June 2022.

2022 European Aquatics Championships

For her first event at the

2022 European Aquatics Championships The 2022 European Aquatics Championships took place in Rome, Italy, from 11 to 21 August 2022. The event exactly coincided with, but was not officially part of, the 2022 European Championships. This diverged from the joined format of the 2018 Eu ...

, held in August in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, Meilutytė won the bronze medal in the 100 metre breaststroke with a time of 1:06.50, which was 0.53 seconds slower than gold medalist Benedetta Pilato and 0.16 seconds behind silver medalist Lisa Angiolini of Italy. LEN (13 August 2022)
"European Aquatics Championships Roma 2022: Results 100m Breaststroke Women Final"
''Microplus''. Retrieved 23 October 2022. In her second event, the 50 metre freestyle, she placed thirty-first in the preliminary heats with a time of 26.38 seconds and did not advance to the semifinals stage of competition. LEN (15 August 2022)
"European Aquatics Championships Roma 2022: Results 50m Freestyle Women Preliminary"
''Microplus''. Retrieved 23 October 2022. On 17 August, the seventh day of competition, she won the European title and gold medal in the 50 metre breaststroke, finishing over one-tenth of a second ahead of the next-fastest swimmer with a time of 29.59 seconds. LEN (17 August 2022)
"European Aquatics Championships Roma 2022: Results 50m Breaststroke Women Final"
''Microplus''. Retrieved 23 October 2022.Pérez, Marta (17 August 2022)

(in Spanish). '' Mundo Deportivo''. Retrieved 23 October 2022.

2022 Swimming World Cup

On 23 October, at the 2022 FINA Swimming World Cup stop in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, Meilutytė won the gold medal and set a new European record and Lithuanian record in the short course 50 metre breaststroke with a time of 28.60 seconds, which was just four-hundredths of a second slower than the world record of 28.56 seconds by Alia Atkinson in 2018.

(23 October 2022)
"FINA Swimming World Cup 2022 Berlin (GER): Women's 50m Breaststroke Final Results"
'' Omega Timing''. Retrieved 23 October 2022."Récord de Europa de Meilutyte en los 50 braza de piscina corta"
(in Spanish). ''

Marca (newspaper) (), stylised as , is Spain's national daily tabloid sport newspaper owned by Unidad Editorial. The newspaper focuses primarily on football, in particular the day-to-day activities of Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, and Atlético Madrid. It has a ...

''. 23 October 2022. Retrieved 23 October 2022. In addition to her gold medal in the 50 metre breaststroke, she won the gold medal in the 100 metre breaststroke with a time of 1:03.07 and placed fifth in the 100 metre individual medley with a time of 59.08 seconds over the full three days in Berlin.

(23 October 2022)
"FINA Swimming World Cup 2022 Berlin (GER): Results Book"
'' Omega Timing''. Retrieved 23 October 2022. The following stop of the circuit, in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

beginning 28 October, Meilutytė started off with a seventh-place finish in the final of the 100 metre individual medley on day one with a time of 59.67 seconds.

(28 October 2022)
"FINA Swimming World Cup 2022 Toronto (CAN): Women's 100m Individual Medley Final Results"
'' Omega Timing''. Retrieved 28 October 2022. On the second day, she won the gold medal in the 100 metre breaststroke with a time of 1:02.95, which made her the only female to swim faster than 1:03.00 in the final.

(29 October 2022)
"FINA Swimming World Cup 2022 Toronto (CAN): Women's 100m Breaststroke Final Results"
'' Omega Timing''. Retrieved 29 October 2022.Nagime, Mateus (29 October 2022)
"Bia Dizotti é prata com records brasileiro na Copa do Mundo de Toronto"
(in Portuguese). ''olimpiadatododia.com.br''. Retrieved 29 October 2022. In the morning preliminaries she had finished in a time of 1:04.74 to qualify for the final ranking fourth, just 0.04 seconds behind third-ranked Lydia Jacoby of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and 0.20 seconds behind first-ranked Anna Elendt."Meilutytė, Rapšys ir Šidlauskas perlipo atrankos Toronte barjerus ir kovos finaluose dėl medalių Skaitykite daugiau"
(in Lithuanian). ''

Delfi Delfi (occasionally capitalized as DELFI) is a news website in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania providing daily news, ranging from gardening to politics. It ranks as one of the most popular websites among Baltic users. Delfi operates in the re ...

''. 29 October 2022. Retrieved 29 October 2022. The next day, she was the only female to swim faster than 29.00 seconds in the 50 metre breaststroke, winning the gold medal with a time of 28.96 seconds, which was 1.29 seconds faster than bronze medalist Anastasia Gorbenko of

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

(30 October 2022)
"FINA Swimming World Cup 2022 Toronto (CAN): Women's 50m Breaststroke Final Results"
'' Omega Timing''. Retrieved 30 October 2022. In the 100 metre individual medley on day one of the stop in the third and final location,

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

, United States, Meilutytė placed seventh with a time of 59.58 seconds."Rapšys praturtino savo bronzinę seriją aukštesnės prabos medaliu Skaitykite daugiau"
(in Lithuanian). ''

''. 4 November 2022. Retrieved 4 November 2022. She followed up with a gold medal-win in the 100 metre breaststroke on day two, finishing 0.97 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher with a US Open record time of 1:02.77.

(4 November 2022)
"FINA Swimming World Cup 2022: Indianapolis (USA): Women's 100m Breaststroke Final Results"
'' Omega Timing''. Retrieved 4 November 2022. She made it another gold medal in a US Open record time the following day, winning the 50 metre breaststroke with a time of 28.70 seconds.

(5 November 2022)
"FINA Swimming World Cup 2022: Indianapolis (USA): Women's 50m Breaststroke Final Results"
'' Omega Timing''. Retrieved 5 November 2022. Across all three stops of the World Cup, she earned 151.9 points for her performances, ranking as the fifth overall highest-scoring female competitor."FINA Swimming World Cup 2022: Women Individual Ranking 2022"

. 5 November 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.

2022 World Short Course Championships

At the 2022 World Short Course Championships, held in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia, Meilutytė ranked first in the preliminaries of the 100 metre breaststroke on day two with a time of 1:03.81 and qualified for the evening semifinals.

(14 December 2022)
"16th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Melbourne (AUS): Women's 100m Breaststroke Heats Results Summary"
'' Omega Timing''. Retrieved 14 December 2022. She finished in 1:03.40 in the semifinals to qualify for the final ranking second.

(14 December 2022)
"16th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Melbourne (AUS): Women's 100m Breaststroke Semifinals Results Summary"
'' Omega Timing''. Retrieved 14 December 2022. During racing in the final the following day, she was disqualified.

(15 December 2022)
"16th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Melbourne (AUS): Women's 100m Breaststroke Final Results"
'' Omega Timing''. Retrieved 15 December 2022."Danas Rapšys Melburne iškovojo bronzą"
(in Lithuanian). '' Lithuanian Swimming Federation''. 15 December 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2022. Beginning again, this time in the preliminaries of the 50 metre breaststroke on day five, she qualified for the semifinals ranked first with a time of 29.10 seconds.

(17 December 2022)
"16th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Melbourne (AUS): Women's 50m Breaststroke Heats Results Summary"
'' Omega Timing''. Retrieved 17 December 2022. In the semifinals, she set the first world record of the Championships in a stage other than an event final, achieving a new

time of 28.37 seconds.

(17 December 2022)
"16th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Melbourne (AUS): Women's 50m Breaststroke Semifinals Results Summary"
'' Omega Timing''. Retrieved 18 December 2022.Pérez, Marta (17 December 2022)
"Ruta Meilutyte bate el récord del mundo de los 50 braza"
(in Spanish). '' Mundo Deportivo''. Retrieved 19 December 2022."Three world records fall at FINA short-course world championships"
''

China Internet Information Center China Internet Information Center () is a state-run web portal of the People's Republic of China's State Council Information Office and the China International Communications Group. History The China Internet Information Center was launched ...

''. 17 December 2022. Retrieved 19 December 2022. She won the gold medal in the final with a time of 28.50 seconds, which made her the world title holder in the female 50 metre breaststroke for both the long course and short course World Championships in 2022.

(18 December 2022)
"16th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Melbourne (AUS): Women's 50m Breaststroke Final Results"
'' Omega Timing''. Retrieved 18 December 2022."Meilutyte claims World gold to close Melbourne 2022"
'' LEN''. 18 December 2022. Retrieved 19 December 2022.

Personal bests

Records

Legend: records marked bold are still held by Rūta Meilutytė.

European records

World records

International championships (50 m)

International championships (25 m)

Personal life

In June 2025, Rūta Meilutytė publicly came out as bisexual in a message of solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community. In a post shared on social media and during a Pride Month initiative in Lithuania, Meilutytė stated, “I am one of them,” expressing personal identification with the community. Her message was widely seen as both a personal revelation and a strong gesture of support for LGBTQ+ visibility in sports and Lithuanian society more broadly. Meilutytė’s announcement received widespread attention, especially given her status as one of Lithuania’s most prominent athletes.

Decorations

: Grand Cross of Order for Merits to Lithuania (10 August 2012)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Meilutyte, Ruta 1997 births Living people European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Lithuanian female breaststroke swimmers Lithuanian female freestyle swimmers Lithuanian female medley swimmers Lithuanian Sportsperson of the Year winners Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) Olympic gold medalists for Lithuania Olympic gold medalists in swimming Olympic swimmers for Lithuania People educated at Plymouth College Swimmers from Kaunas Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming World record holders in swimming Youth Olympic gold medalists for Lithuania Swimmers at the 2024 Summer Olympics Lithuanian bisexual people LGBTQ swimmers

Early and personal life

Career

Early career

2012: Olympic and double World champion at 15 years of age

2012 Summer Olympics

2012 World Swimming Championships

2013: Three world records as a 16-year-old

2013 World Aquatics championships

2013 World Junior Swimming Championships

2013 Swimming World Cup

2013 European Short Course Swimming Championships

2014

2014 Summer Youth Olympics

2014 European Aquatics Championships

2014 Swimming World Cup

2014 World Swimming Championships

2015

2015 World Aquatics championships

Short hiatus

2016

2016 Summer Olympics

2017

2017 World Aquatics championships

2018

2018 European Aquatics Championships

2019–2021: Suspension and return

Suspension due to anti-doping rule violations

Return to competition

2022: World and European champion in 50 metre breaststroke

2022 World Aquatics Championships

2022 European Aquatics Championships

2022 Swimming World Cup

2022 World Short Course Championships

Personal bests

Records

European records

World records

International championships (50 m)

International championships (25 m)

Personal life

Decorations

See also

References

External links