The 22-year-old finished the race in 1min 31.44sec, more than three seconds clear of Jessica Long of the United States in second and Australia’s Tiffany Thomas Kane in third.

This was her second medal of the Paralympic Games, having secured a bronze in the SM8 200m individual medley.

Pavlova went to Tokyo 2020 as the SB7 100m breaststroke reigning European champion, having triumphed at Funchal in Portugal this May in the delayed European Para Swimming Championships.

She also contributed to a silver medal effort in the 4x100m medley 34 points relay and picked up bronze medals in the S8 50m freestyle and SM8 200m individual medley.

In the European Championships in Funchal in 2016, Pavlova earned seven medals, including gold in the S8 100m backstroke.

At the World Para Swimming Championships in London in 2019, Pavlova earned a podium finish in the SB7 100m breaststroke, finishing third.

She competes in S8, SB7 and SM8 events.

Pavlova took up the sport at the age of six in the Russian capital Moscow, where she was born and is still based, after being enrolled in classes by her parents to help her rehabilitation.

She was awarded the Master of Sport of International Class in the Russian Federation title in 2017.

Her gold at Tokyo 2020 was the RPC’s 13^th in the pool at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.