Great Britain’s Rebecca Adlington set a new world record as she won her second swimming gold medal in Beijing with victory in the 800m freestyle.
Having already won gold in the 400m freestyle on Monday, 19 year old Rebecca destroyed the rest of the field to finish 2.12 seconds inside the previous world best. Italy’s Alessia Filippi claimed the silver while Lotte Friis of Denmark finished third.
Adlington became the first British woman to claim gold since Anita Lonsbrough in 1960 with her 400m freestyle victory, and success in the 800m freestyle makes her the most successful British swimmer of the last 100 years.
The previous world record was set by Janet Evans of the United States in 1989 and was the longest standing swimming record. Coincidentally, 1989 was the year in which Adlington was born.