China's Ye, 16, Sets Swim Record

China's Ye Shiwen set the first world record in the Olympic pool, winning the women's 400-meter individual medley with a dominant finishing kick last night. The 16-year-old Ye trailed American teenager Elizabeth Beisel more than halfway through the grueling race, but pulled away in the freestyle leg to win gold in 4 minutes, 28.43 seconds. She beat the 4:29.45 mark set by Stephanie Rice at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Beisel settled for silver with 4:31.27, while China's Li Xuanxu took the bronze in 4:32.91. Ye was the second Chinese swimmer to win gold on the opening night of swimming competition at the London Olympics. Sun Yang won the men's 400 freestyle. (More Olympics stories.)