Adrian blows ‘The Missile’ out of the water in freestyle

Nathan Adrian destroyed Australian star James Magnussen’s ambition of adding the Olympic title to his world crown when the American out-touched him by one 100th of a second in the 100 metres freestyle.

Magnussen, known as ‘The Missile’, had been the red-hot favourite coming into London but doubts arose when the sprint freestyle relay squad finished out of the medals. Last night’s race was a proper head to head down the second length with Adrian taking the title in 47.52 seconds.

Hungary’s Daniel Gyurta clocked a new world record as he edged Britain’s Michael Jamieson in the 200 metres breaststroke after a final length shoot-out. Jamieson and Gyurta went head to head over the last 50m with the Athens silver medallist lowering Christian Sprenger’s world mark by 0.03secs to two minutes 07.28.