Olympics: Steffen completes sprint double with 50m free victory

Monday, 18 August 2008

BEIJING - Germany's Britta Steffen won the women's 50m freestyle here Sunday, edging US veteran Dara Torres to complete a swimming sprint double at the Beijing Games.

Steffen, who out-gunned world record-holder Libby Trickett to win the 100m freestyle gold, clocked 24.06sec and edged the 41-year-old Torres by just one one-hundredth of a second.

"In the first 20m I noticed Dara Torres beside me," Steffen said. "My coach told me the last 10 metres would decide the results."

Torres, whose silver in the 4x100m free relay in Beijing had already made her the oldest Olympic swimming medallist, added another silver by the narrowest of margins, posting an American record of 24.07.

Behind her, 16-year-old Cate Campbell of Australia - born the year Torres competed in her third Olympic Games in 1992 - took the bronze in 24.17.

"You can't buy experience, you can't learn experience, you have to experience the experience," Campbell said.

"I'm stoked to win an individual medal at my first Olympics. For my first time, I couldn't have asked for anything better."

Trickett, who set the world record at the Australian Olympic trials in March, was third in 24.25.