Aussie swimmer Trickett conquers nerves to win gold

Beijing: Australia's Libby Trickett admitted she had to battle crippling nerves before winning the women's 100 metres butterfly Olympic title on Monday.

The 23-year-old won in a personal best time of 56.73 seconds ahead of Christine Magnuson from the United States and compatriot Jessica Schipper whose chances were almost scuppered by a broken zip on her revolutionary LZR Racer suit.

"I was really nervous before the race - I was almost sick in the marshalling area," said Trickett.

"Nerves get your body ready and getting to the point of vomiting was my body getting itself ready. But as I walked out for the race, I just thought to myself 'you have done the work, you have the confidence, now just do the job'. A nice feeling of calm came over me and I just thought that whatever happens, happens."

Having returned from Athens four years ago with a gold medal from the 4x100 metres freestyle relay, Trickett said she was delighted to have an individual medal of her own.

"I just wanted to leave here with no regrets. I knew that if I was able to do that, I would have had my best race," she said.

"That is all I could ask, regardless of place, if had put together by best race. To come here and swim a personal best time and get a gold medal is more than I could have hoped for. Anything I do from now on is a bonus."

Schipper won her bronze despite the drama of her LZR Racer swimsuit breaking just before the final.

"It was a bit of bad luck that I was getting my suit zipped up just before the race and the zip broke, so I had to do a quick change," said the 21-year-old.

"And the Racers aren't the easiest things to get into, so I was a bit stressed out from the nerves - the adrenalin was pumping.

"I was pretty happy with what happened at the end after the way things turned out."

Trickett revealed she had helped Schipper into her new suit, just as her teammate had done for her the day before when her high-tech suit broke just before Sunday morning's semi-final.

"I had a similar problem before the semi-finals and Jess did the same for me," said Trickett.

"But Jess' situation was a little bit harder to deal with, so she did an amazing job to just get in there and fight the whole way."