Defending champion Gary Hall of the United States put a perfect ending to his Olympic journey as he pulled off the men's 50m freestyle title Friday in the swimming pool.

Three-time Olympian Hall, 29, retained the title in 21.93 seconds to carry on his miracle as a Type 1 diabetes patient.

"I am so excited about the chance to defend my gold medal from Sydney. I loved it," he said. "It' s always harder to defend than to win, so I am really proud."

Hall was found out in 1999 that he has the disease and sometimes must inject insulin 10 to 12 times a day.

"Five years ago when I was diagnosed with diabetes, this seemed so far away," Hall said.

Hall had written a new chapter in U.S. history after he qualified for the third time for the Olympic Games after his Father, Hall snr, was also a three-time Olympian.

22-year-old Croatian Duje Draganja, sixth-place finisher in the100m free here, bagged the silver in 21.94.

South African Roland Schoeman, member of the winning 4x100m free relay team, took bronze in 22.02.

"I'm a little bit disappointed, but a bronze in the Olympics is a great thing. Maybe I would have been there (top of the podium),if I had got the start that I wanted," said Schoeman.

(Xinhua News Agency August 21, 2004)