Adlington wins bronze but loses title in freestyle final

Adlington had hoped to enter the history books with a successful defence of the Olympic gold she won in Beijing at the same event, but was beaten into third place by Ledecky, who won the race in eight minutes, 14.63 seconds, and Spain’s Mireia Belmonte Garcia.

On Sunday, Adlington, known as the “Mansfield Mermaid”, picked up a bronze in the 400m freestyle, an event that also won her gold in China.

Earlier, cyclist Victoria Pendleton won a gold in the women’s keirin, having picked up top honours in the individual sprint in Beijing as well.

Before the race, 23-year-old Adlington produced the fifth-fastest time in the world this year in the heats and had also recorded four of the top five times in 2012.

Medals

British swimmers James Goddard and Fran Halsall had to settle for seventh and sixth in the final of the 200m individual medley and 100m freestyle respectively on Thursday night.

But Michael Jamieson won a silver in the 200m men’s breaststroke final on Wednesday. Jamieson, from Glasgow, broke the British record with a time of two minutes, 7.43 seconds. He beat the record he had set in the semi-final – two minutes, 8.20 seconds.

In the final, he achieved the third fastest time in history – beaten by the Hungarian Daniel Gyurta, who managed a new world record.

Team GB’s performance in the pool is some way off what was achieved in Beijing, when British swimmers won six medals.