By Alan Baldwin
PARIS (Reuters) - Sweden's Sarah Sjostrom set an Olympic record in the 50 metres freestyle semi-finals at the Paris Games on Saturday, to add to the world mark that she set last year.
The silver medallist in 2021 had touched out in 23.85 seconds in the morning heats and then clocked 23.66 in her semi-final to smash the Olympic record of 23.81 set by Australia's Emma McKeon in Tokyo.
Sjostrom set the world record of 23.61 at the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, last year and that now looks under threat in Sunday's final in Paris.
"I've never been that fast in a prelim swim at this kind of competition, like Olympics or world champs, so I'll take that," the 30-year-old told reporters after her morning effort.
"For the 50 I usually need a few races before I really get the extra little speed."
Sjostrom won gold in the 100 metres freestyle on Wednesday and is chasing a sprint double at the La Defense Arena.
The pool has so far produced only one world record although plenty of Olympic records have tumbled, but the Swede was the only swimmer to complete the distance inside 24 seconds in the heats and semis.
"I'm not going to force it and try to go for a world record," said the Swede after the heats.
"I'm just going to try to be as smooth as I can and then I'll see if I go 23.5 or 23.9 or 8, I don't know."
Sjostrom is also in Sweden's 4x100 medley relay team, with that final the last race on Sunday to close out the Olympic swimming programme.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ken Ferris and Hugh Lawson)
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