Stephanie Rice wins third gold in relay victory

Stephanie Rice won her third gold medal of the Beijing Games by leading off Australia8217;s victorious women8217;s 4215;200 metres freestyle relay team on Thursday.

The Australian quartet of Rice, Bronte Barratt, Kylie Palmer and Linda Mackenzie set a new world record of seven minutes 44.31 seconds, shaving 5.78 seconds off the previous record set by the United States at the world championships in Melbourne last year.

China won silver with the heavily-favoured U.S. team winning bronze.

Rice has also won gold in the 200 and 400 metres individual medley and has set the world record with all three of her victories.