Rebecca Adlington of Great Britain waves during the final of women's 800m freestyle at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in the National Aquatics Center, also known as the Water Cube in Beijing, China, Aug. 16, 2008. Rebecca Adlington won the gold medal in a new world record with 8 minutes 14.10 seconds. (Xinhua/Chen Kai) Photo Gallery>>>

    BEIJING, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- "When I touched the wall, I knew I'd won the gold. When I looked up it was absolutely amazing," said British prodigy Rebecca Adlington on Saturday.

    The 19-year-old clinched the title for women's 800m freestyle race with a new world record at Beijing Olympics this morning.

    "It (record-breaking) has always been a goal of mine," she said.

    "It means everything to me, and I never knew it was going to be like this," Adlington said after the race. "I've worked so hard and it's paid off. I knew I could have swum faster but to get the world record, it certainly paid off."

    Italian Alessia Filippe finished second at 8:20.23, lagged 6.13 seconds behind Adlington, but 2.80 seconds faster than Danish Lotte Friis in the third place.

    Potec finished fourth at 8:23.11.