BARCELONA, July 26: Alexander Popov, double world champion nine years ago, repeated the feat by winning the 50 metres freestyle at the world swimming championships on Saturday.

Popov, 31, swung through the one-length race in 21.92 seconds, breaking his own championship record to add the 50 crown to the 100 freestyle title he regained on Thursday.

He is the only man to have won the race at the world championships in under 22 seconds.

Britain’s Mark Foster, world short-course champion in 1993 and at 33 the only man older than Popov in the race, grabbed the silver from the outside lane one in 22.20.

Pieter van den Hoogenband, silver medallist in 2001, took the bronze in 22.29, a mere 0.01 seconds ahead of fellow Dutchman Johan Kenkhuis.

Popov now has three gold medals from these championships, having earlier in the week anchored Russia to victory in the 4x100 freestyle relay as well as winning the 100 freestyle in his best championship victory time ever.

American Anthony Ervin, winner of the 50 and 100 at the last world championships in 2001, failed to qualify from Friday’s heats.

Double world champion in 1994, Popov suffered his first-ever major championship defeat when he was beaten in the 50 freestyle by American Bill Pilczuk at the 1998 world championships in Perth, although the Russian did retain the 100 freestyle title there.

Having become the first man to win the 50 and 100 freestyle at consecutive Olympics — Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996 — Popov lost his 100 crown to Van den Hoogenband at the 2000 Sydney Games and finished out of the medals in the 50.

He missed the 2001 world championships because of tonsilitis but has bounced back in Barcelona as fast as ever.

Finals results

Women’s 200 metres backstroke: 1. Katy Sexton (Britain) two minutes 08.74 seconds 2. Margaret Hoelzer (U.S.) 2:09.24 3. Stanislava Komarova (Russia) 2:10.17 4. Iryna Amshennikova (Ukraine) 2:10.82 5. Hanae Ito (Japan) 2:10.95 6. Jennifer Fratesi (Canada) 2:12.53 7. Nicole Hetzer (Germany) 2:12.82 8. Sarah Price (Britain) 2:13.78

Women’s 50m butterfly: 1. Inge De Bruijn (Netherlands) 25.84 2. Jenny Thompson (U.S.) 26.00 3. Anna-Karin Kammerling (Sweden) 26.06 4. Yafei Zhou (China) 26.85 5. Chantal Groot (Netherlands) 26.92 6. Vered Borochovsky (Israel) 26.98 7. Nataliya Khudyakova (Ukraine) 27.10 8. Angela San Juan (Spain) 27.24

Men’s 50 metres freestyle: 1. Alexander Popov (Russia) 21.92 seconds 2. Mark Foster (Britain) 22.20 3. Pieter Van Den Hoogenband (Netherlands) 22.29 4. Johan Kenkhuis (Netherlands) 22.30 5. Julien Sicot (France) 22.38 6. Olersandr Volynets (Ukraine) 22.40 7. Brett Hawke (Australia) 22.41 8. Jason Lezak (U.S.) 22.44

Women’s 800 metres freestyle: 1. Hannah Stockbauer (Germany) eight minutes 23.66 seconds 2. Diana Munz (U.S.) 8:24.19 3. Rebecca Cooke (Britain) 8:28.45 4. Brittany Reimer (Canada) 8:28.73 5. Jana Henke (Germany) 8:30.12 6. Eva Risztov (Hungary) 8:35.70 7. Regina Sytch (Russia) 8:39.96 8. Hua Chen (China) 8:46.78

Medal table

Medal table at the end of day 13 of the world swimming championships on Friday:

G S B T

United States 9 8 5 22

Russia 9 4 5 18

Australia 7 9 4 20

China 5 4 8 16

Germany 3 6 5 14

Japan 3 3 2 8

Italy 2 1 1 4

Canada 2 0 1 3

Ukraine 1 2 1 4

Spain 1 2 3 6

Britain 1 2 1 4

Netherlands 1 2 1 4

Poland 1 1 0 2

France 1 0 2 3

Belarus 1 0 0 1

Finland 1 0 0 1

Hungary 0 2 1 3

Slovakia 0 1 1 2

Cz Republic 0 2 0 2

Denmark 0 1 0 1

Croatia 0 1 0 1

Finland 0 0 1 1

Romania 0 0 1 1

Mexico 0 0 1 1

Note: Two silver medals and no bronze awarded for men’s 100 metres backstroke and for women’s 100 metres backstroke after swimmers dead-heated.—Reuters