BUDAPEST (REUTERS) - Hungarian Kristof Milak smashed his own world record to win the 200m butterfly, powering to the gold medal in a time of 1:50.34 at the World Championships in Budapest on Tuesday (June 21), while the United States claimed two gold medals.

Olympic champion Milak beat the record he set himself at the 2019 worlds in Gwangju by 0.39 seconds and he finished 3.03 seconds ahead of silver medallist Leon Marchand of France.

Bobby Finke of the United States won the men's 800m freestyle with an electric late burst to finish ahead of Germany's Florian Wellbrock and Ukrainian Mykhailo Romanchuk.

The win for Finke was a boost for the US team after 100m free Olympic champion and reigning world champion Caeleb Dressel pulled out of the semi-finals in that event for medical reasons.

Finke, who sat in fourth place for much of the race and was still behind three swimmers at the final turn, posted a personal best time of 7:39.36.

As he did in Tokyo, Finke timed his race to perfection, delivering a blistering final 50m, in 25.93 seconds to move ahead of his European rivals.

"I knew I just had to just stick with them and stay with what I am good at, the finish. I knew the 50 length was going to hurt but it was worth it," said Finke.

His team mate Nic Fink delivered a second victory for the Americans, winning the 50m breaststroke in 26.45, three hundredths of a second ahead of Italy's Nicolo Martinenghi with another American Michael Andrew taking bronze.

The loss of Dressel means he will miss an anticipated showdown with Romanian teenage talent David Popovici, who won the 200m free on Monday.

China's Yang Junxuan won the women's 200m freestyle in a time of 1:54.92 beating Australia's highly rated 18-year-old Mollie O'Callaghan, who took silver 0.30 behind.

The Chinese had two medals to celebrate with Muhan Tang taking bronze ahead of Britain's Freya Anderson.