The Wardman Wire

Becky Adlington from Mansfield in Nottinghamshire has won a second Gold Medal.

Adlington, who is 19 and who won gold in the 400m freestyle a few days ago, finished 2.12 seconds quicker than the previous world record.

There have only been four previous occasions when a female swimmer has won two Gold Medals: Petra Thumer in 1976, Tiffany Cohen in 1984, Janet Evans in 1988 and Brooke Bennet in 2000.

This is the first time that a British Swimmer has won more than a single swimming Olympic Games Gold Medal since 1908, when Henry Taylor won three Gold Medals at the 1908 Olympic Games. At that time there were only six swimming events, and only men competing.

Rebecca Adlington’s time was 8:14.10; the previous World Record figure was set in 1989, the year when she was born.

The previous Olympic Games record was also shattered by more than 5 seconds. The previous mark was set by Brooke Bennett of the USA at the Sydney, Australia Olympic Games in 2000; the figure was 8:19.67.