Chinese star, 16, breaks 400m IM world record

Ye, 16, set a new world best of four minutes 28.43 seconds, ahead of American world champion Elizabeth Beisel and fellow Chinese Li Xuanxu.

The 16-year-old overwhelmed American world champion Elizabeth Beisel to win the final in four minutes 28.43 seconds to cap a glittering night for China in the pool following Sun Yang's breakthrough victory in the men's 400m freestyle.

Ye put in a storming final freestyle leg to shatter the previous record of 4:29.45, set by Australian Stephanie Rice en route to gold at the Beijing Games four years ago.

So supercharged was Ye's finish that she stormed under the world record on the back of a 28.93sec final lap to leave her rivals in her wake.

"I thought at the 200 metres that the race was lost," Ye said. "But then on the breaststroke I realised I was in the top two or three and I was confident I could win on the last leg.

"I've been working on my butterfly and backstroke since last year's world championships and have closed the gap, while freestyle is my best stroke. I dreamed of winning the gold medal, but I never ever expected to break a world record, I'm overwhelmed."

伦敦奥运首日中国16岁小将叶诗文在女子400米个人混合泳决赛中获得金牌，并破世界纪录。

比赛开始时，叶诗文在100米蝶泳结束后仍排在第五位。但她保持节奏，加快了前进速度，在250米结束后上升到第三位。300米结束后，叶诗文以自由泳不断加速，在350米左右开始领先。最后50米她率先转身，和第二名拉开一个身位的距离。观看这场比赛的世界泳坛宿将索普对BBC评论说，他看到叶诗文最后的自由泳冲刺时，就感到她可能将打破世界纪录。最终叶诗文以4分28秒43创造了新的世界纪录，拿下中国队伦敦奥运会上第四枚金牌。在这个项目中，美国选手贝塞尔4分31秒27获得了银牌，另一位中国选手李玄旭以4分32秒91获得了铜牌。