Efimova wins gold in women`s 50m breaststroke

Barcelona: Yuliya Efimova ended her personal battle with Lithuania`s Ruta Meiliutyte when she took the gold medal in the women`s 50 metres breaststroke in the world championships held here.

Efimova, who won gold in the 100m breaststroke earlier in the week, had broken the 50m world record in Saturday`s heats, only for Meiliutyte to set a new world best of 29.48 in the semifinals in the afternoon, reports Xinhua. With two world records falling in a matter of hours, Sunday`s race was always going to be a fast one and Efimova was able to finish stronger after Meiliutyte had got the brighter start. Her time of 29.52 was just 0.04 of a second off Meiliutyte`s world record, but it was worth a gold medal as she finished 0.07 ahead of the 16-year-old with Jessica Hardy, who had held the world record before racing began Saturday, taking the bronze medal. IANS