Kromowidjojo completes 50/100 sprint double

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superb wins: Ranomi Kromowidjojo prepares to swim in the women’s 50m freestyle final during the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Aquatics Centre. — Reuters photo

LONDON: Dutch speedster Ranomi Kromowidjojo finished off an Olympic sprint freestyle double Saturday with a victory in the women’s 50m free.

Kromowidjojo, winner of the 100m free on Thursday, won in an Olympic record of 24.05sec.

Aliaksandra Herasimenia of Belarus earned silver in 24.28 and Marleen Veldhuis of the Netherlands took bronze in the hectic one-lap sprint in 24.39.

“I came here hoping for three gold medals. We were hoping to do better in the 4x100m freestyle relay and I felt the pressure from myself, the country and the rest of the world but the best we could do was silver,” said Kromowidjojo, who celebrates 22nd birthday later this month.

“I have trust in the Netherlands that I didn’t let them down.

“The pressure was building on me even after the 100m once I started reading my Twitter account.”

Kromowidjojo, of Surinam-Indonesia heritage, said she had postponed her celebrations of both sprint gold medals until after the meet.

“I didn’t really celebrate the 50m, I will do it straight away once the medal ceremony is over,” she said.

“I didn’t celebrate the 100m either during the week, my coach told me not to and we have learnt that from the past.”

Veldhuis, 33, celebrated her bronze medal after returning to swimming from having a baby.

“It’s really a great night for Holland, I am really pleased with the result,” Veldhuis said.

“I had a baby two years ago, it was a tough way to come back, but I did it and that’s great.”

Germany’s Britta Steffen, who did the 50m-100m double in Beijing, was relegated to fourth place in 24.46, another unable to make up for the disappointment of failing to make the 100m free final.

“I would have liked to have won or to have got a medal, but fourth in a tough field like that isn’t bad,” Steffen said.

On her prospects of swimming on to the 2016 Rio Games, she added: “I will decide that after taking a holiday, but right now I just want to go on that holiday.”

Swedish veteran Therese Alshammar, the reigning world champion who had withdrawn from the 100m free and the 4x100m free relay because of a painful pinched nerve in her neck, gave it a gutsy try in lane eight.

But the 34-year-old swimming in her fifth Olympics couldn’t hold off rising star Kromowidjojo and finished sixth. — AFP