The Lithuanian Ruta Meilutyte has set a world record in the women’s 50-meter breaststroke, taking gold thanks to a time of 29.16 seconds in the final this Sunday at the World Swimming Championships being held in Fukuoka (Japan).
Meilutyte was already the protagonist yesterday during the semifinal, when she equaled the world record held since 2021 by the Italian Benedetta Pilato. Today, the Lithuanian swimmer has flown, lowering her time on Saturday by 14 hundredths to pulverize all records and finish ahead of all her rivals. The silver has been for Lilly King with 29.94 seconds, beating the Italian Pilato, bronze medalist with a time of 30.04.
It is the second gold medal for the 26-year-old swimmer after her triumph in the 100m breaststroke where she set a time of 1:04.62 ahead of South African Tatjana Schoenmacker (1:05.84) and American Lydia Jacoby (1:05.94). .
The Lithuanian swimmer became known at the age of 15 at the 2012 London Olympics where she won gold and a year later she repeated at the 2013 World Cup in Barcelona.
In 2019 she withdrew from the competition and after her return two years later, this double of golds and world records confirm her as the great favorite in breaststroke for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
It is the tenth world record to be broken at the Fukuoka World Cup.
