BEIJING - RYAN Lochte of the United States broke the men's 200m backstroke world record on Friday, winning his first individual Olympic gold medal by dethroning Athens champion Aaron Peirsol.

'I'm really glad. That was my first individual gold,' said Lochte, who also earned gold as part of America's triumphant 4x200m freestyle relay team here after winning relay gold and medley silver in Athens four years ago.

The victory launched a busy day for the American, who went on to take the 200m medley bronze in a race won by superstar teammate and friend Michael Phelps.

With the two finals just half an hour apart, the double was dubbed 'cruel' by medley silver medallist Laszlo Cseh.

'That's an incredible day for him,' Phelps said. 'I'm glad to see him get his first gold. It's a cool moment. I thought he had it in him.'

While Lochte, 23, couldn't slow Phelps' march toward a record eight Olympic gold medals in Beijing, he did thwart Peirsol's bid to repeat his backstroke double of Athens.

Peirsol had already completed his first task, winning the 100m back in a world record of 52.54sec on Tuesday.

But as at the world championships in Melbourne last year, Peirsol was no match for Lochte in the longer race, which Lochte won in 1min 53.94sec.

The previous record of 1:54.32 was set by Lochte in winning that world title - a performance that ended Peirsol's five-year hold on the mark.

Peirsol thrust himself back into the gold medal frame when he matched the world record at the US trials in July, but said Lochte was the better man on the day.

He and Lochte were dead-even at the final turn, lying second behind early pace-setter Arkady Vyatchanin of Russia.

Lochte finished strong to win the last-lap duel, with Peirsol second in 1:54.33 and Vyatchanin second in 1:54.93.

'I gave it my all, and I couldn't have really asked for more today,' Peirsol said. 'This is all about how each athlete races on any given day, there was no exception today. I gave it my all. I was proud of how hard I tried - no regrets.' -- AFP