Libby Trickett flashed her trade mark smile and swept the field to take gold in the women’s 100m butterfly at the Water Cube in Beijing.
Taking Australia’s second gold medal of the Olympic Games, Ms Trickett broke an Olympic record with her win in a time of 56.73.
Jess Schipper, the world record holder in the 200m butterfly, finished third in 57.25 behind American Christine Magnuson (57.10).
It is Ms Trickett’s second Olympic gold medal after winning with the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay team in Athens in 2004.
Ms Trickett said her victory was a dream come true.
“It can’t get much better than this,” she told Channel Seven reporters. “It feels absolutely unbelievable.”
Jessica Schipper said she had had trouble with her suit before the race and had to switch to an alternative suit. She was, however, happy with her race.
Ms Schipper said she was happy to get a place.
“All I wanted to do was get an individual medal and do better than I did last time,” she said.
“I have done that now, so I am really happy.”
Libby Trickett said:
“I’m just so happy, and I get to share the medal presentation with Jess [Schipper], which is really special for me, because I wouldn’t be here without her.
“So that’s really important for me as well.”
Ms Trickett qualified fastest for the final with a time of 57.05 seconds in yesterday’s first semi-final, while Ms Schipper posted a time of 57.43 seconds to win the second semi.
