World Aquatics Championship: Sjostrom wins 50m freestyle gold to better Phelps’ tally and gets level with Ledecky

Sjostrom touched the wall in 23.62sec to finish ahead of Australia’s Shayna Jack on 24.10 and China’s Zhang Yufei on 24.15s.

Sarah Sjoestroem, of Sweden, celebrates after winning the women’s 50-meter freestyle final at the World Swimming Championships in Fukuoka, Japan. | Photo Credit: AP

Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom won the women’s 50m freestyle title at swimming’s world championships on Sunday.

Sjostrom touched the wall in 23.62sec to finish ahead of Australia’s Shayna Jack on 24.10 and China’s Zhang Yufei on 24.15

Sjostrom, the defending champion, broke her own world record in Saturday’s semi-finals, clocking 23.61sec. “I’m super happy with that, I was very busy yesterday with the world record and the gold medal,” she said.

The 29-year-old has now won a total of 21 individual world championships medals, one more than American great Michael Phelps. It was her third world 50m freestyle title. She also won the women’s 50m butterfly title on Saturday.