Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe starts her women's 200m backstrokeswimmingsemifinal at the National Aquatics Center during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, August 15, 2008. Coventry won the final. [Agencies]

Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe broke the world record to win the women's 200m backstroke gold medal at the Beijing Olympic Games here on Saturday.

Coventry clocked in 2:05.24 to beat the previous mark of 2:06.09 set by American Margaret Hoelzer in July, 2008.

Hoelzer got the silver in 2:06.23 and Japanese Reiko Nakamura had the bronze in 2:07.13.