Ryan Lochte of the United States celebrates after winning the men's 200m backstroke final at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in the National Aquatics Center, also known as the Water Cube in Beijing, China, Aug. 15, 2008. Lochte set a new world record and won the gold medal in the event in a time of 1 minute 53.94 seconds. (Xinhua/Ding Xu)

Ryan Lochte of the United States broke the world record to win the men's 200m backstroke gold medal at the Beijing Olympic Games on Friday.

Lochte clocked in the winning time of 1:53.94 to break his old world mark of 1:54.32 set up in March 2007.

His fellow American Aaron Peirsol won the silver in 1:54.33 and Russian Arkady Vyatchanin got the bronze in 1:54.93.

(Xinhua News Agency August 15, 2008)