Kromowidjojo wins women's 50m freestyle gold

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 Swedish veteran Therese Alshammar, the reigning world champion who had withdrawn from the 100m free and the 4x100m free relay because of a painful pinched nerve in her neck, gave it a gutsy try in lane eight.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