Kosuke Kitajima of Japan broke the world record of the men's 100m breaststroke at the Beijing Olympic Games on Monday.

Norwegian Alexander Dale Oen won the silver in 59.20 seconds, and French Hugues Duboscq took the bronze in 59.37 seconds.

Kitajima's new record is 0.22 seconds faster than the previous one of 59.13 seconds, held by American rival Brendan Hansen, who finished out of the top three with 59.57 seconds.