Lenny doubles after back-breaking effort

Lenny doubles after back-breaking effort
Rebecca Bryan

Sydney, September 21: Lenny Krayzelburg pushed his "cracking" body to victory in the 200m backstroke on Thursday, completing the Olympic double he coveted to cement his reputation as the world's best backstroker. "I was in so much pain after that race," said Krayzelburg, who lowered the Olympic recorded to 1min 56.76 improving on the marks he set in both the heats and semi-finals. "This is the hardest thing," added Krayzelburg, who won the 100m backstroke on Monday. "After the race I was really struggling to stand up. My body was cracking." Krayzelburg led at every turn, but as 17-year-old compatriot Aaron Peirsol and Australian Matthew Welsh closed in on the final lap. In the end he was more than half a second in front of Peirsol's 1:57.35, while Welsh took the bronze in 1:57.59.

Inge de Bruijn also doubled her gold medal haul with a victory in the women's 100m freestyle, but the Dutch swimmer couldn't match the world record of 53.77sec she set in the semi-finals. De Bruijn added the freestyle gold to her world record-setting 100m butterfly triumph. She defeated Sweden's Therese Alshammar, while Americans Jenny Thompson and Dara Torres finished tied for third to share the bronze.

Thompson earned her ninth Olympic swimming medal, surpassing Dawn Fraser, Kornelia Ender and Shirley Babashoff on the women's all-time list.