Francesca Pelligrini of Italy smashed her 200 metres freestyle world record on Wednesday to win Olympic gold at the Beijing Games, the dpa reported.
Pellegrini clocked 1 minute 54.82 seconds to win. Silver medallist Sara Isakovic of Slovenia (1:54.97) and bronze medallist Pang Jiaying of China (1:55.05) were also faster than the previous world record of 1:55.45 Pellegrini recorded on Monday in the Olympic heats.