FIELDS OF GOLD FOR OUR STEPH

BEIJING, CHINA, August  14: Australian golden girl Stephanie Rice has claimed her second gold medal of these Games by taking out the 200 metres individual medley in world record time at the National Aquatics Centre.

Rice hit the wall in 2:08.45 to win a thrilling last stroke struggle with Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry - the same swimmer who pushed her all the way in the 400m individual medley on Sunday. DAVID LYALL AOC REPORTS...

Coventry was also under Rice's former world mark, clocking 2:08.59 for her third silver of the meet. The USA's Natalie Coughlin, herself a gold medallist (ahead of Coventry) in the 100m backstroke, won bronze in 2:10.34.

Rice, again wearing her luck green and gold ear studs, was overjoyed that all the hard training she has done under astute mentor Michael Bohl has paid off.

"I guess it's something I dreamed about for a long time and obviously it was the ultimate goal but I'm so excited to see the results pull through," Rice said.

"I've put a lot of effort into this preparation and that's why I'm really excited to see the results."

The event had shaped up as being one of the races of the meet and that was how it turned out.

Coughlin had led the field through the butterfly leg with Rice in second.

Coventry turned first in the backstroke, marginally clear of Rice, Katie Hoff and Coughlin before Rice and Coventry cleared out in the breaststroke.

Then it came down to a stroke for stroke battle over the last 50m. At first it appeared Coventry had the measure of her younger rival but Rice, as she has so many times in her fledgling career, dug deep and completed a wonderful medley double.

Rice's freestyle split was an astonishing 30.09 seconds and the 20-year-old said she just closed her eyes, put her head down and tried to think of all the hard work she had done in preparation for this exact situation.

"It was a really great race and a great battle and that's what the Olympics is all about - the challenge," Rice said.

"Having Natalie Coughlin there [to] really take it out [fast] was good for me to get me out there. I knew that Coventry was going to be there the whole race and I knew she's extremely tough and it was really great for me to have her there pushing me along.

"I tried not to look over too much on that last lap. I knew that we were side by side and I tried to close my eyes and focus on all the hard sets we've done [in training].

"It was extremely close and I didn't realise how close it was until I saw the scoreboard at the end. It was a phenomenal race."

Rice now has an incredible record at international level, winning the medley double on her senior international debut at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, claiming a pair of bronze medals in the medleys at the 2007 FINA World Championships and now the double here.

Rice's 20-year-old teammate Alicia Coutts was fifth her first Olympic final with a personal best of 2:11.43.

Rice will contest the 4x200m freestyle relay tomorrow.elay