Adlington adds gold to GB medal tally
Updated on 11 August 2008
Rebecca Adlington wins gold in the 400 metres freestyle in Beijing - Britain's first women's swimming champion in half a century.
The 19-year-old from Mansfield scraped through to beat the USA's Katie Hoff by seven hundredths of a second in the 400 metres freestyle.
Fellow Briton Joanne Jackson also took an impressive bronze in the same race.
'We obviously didn't dive very well. It was disappointing but it was a great experience'Tom Daley
But there was disappointment as diving prodigy Tom Daley missed out on a medal in the men's 10 metre synchronised diving.
The 14-year-old hit the water with partner Blake Aldridge, 26, this morning, with added pressure that he could become Britain's youngest Olympic medallist.
Daley, still up-beat said, "We obviously didn't dive very well. It was disappointing but it was a great experience".
The pair came last out of eight teams, with the favourites China winning gold. Germany scooped silver and Russia bronze.
Adlington, the first British woman to win a swimming medal since Sarah Hardcastle in 1984, was half a length behind Katie Hoff with 10m to go, before powering through to win.
