Sweden's Sjoestroem Wins Women's Olympic 50m Freestyle Gold

Paris, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 5th Aug, 2024) Veteran Swedish sprint star Sarah Sjoestroem powered to the women's Olympic 50m freestyle gold on Sunday to go with her 100m title.

The 30-year-old, at her fifth Olympics, hit the wall first in 23.71sec. Australia's Meg Harris (23.97) was second and China's Zhang Yufei (24.20) third.

It was only Sjoestroem's third career Olympic gold medal, compared to the 14 she has won at world championships.

She was always the favourite, winning the last three world titles after finishing second in Tokyo to Australia's Emma McKeon who did not qualify for the event in Paris.

Sjoestroem, the world record holder, has swum the six fastest times in history, including the third quickest ever in the semi-finals to fire a warning shot.

She also holds the world record over 100m, a title she won in Paris ahead of American Torri Huske and Hong Kong's Siobhan Haughey.