BARCELONA, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- Yuliya Efimova ended her personal battle with Lithuania's Ruta Meiliutyte when she took gold medal in the women's 50 meters breaststroke in the world championships held in Barcelona.

Efimova, who won gold in the 100 meters breaststroke earlier in the week, had broken the 50 meters world record in Saturday's 50 meters heats, only for Meiliutyte to set a new world best of 29.48 in the semifinals on Saturday afternoon.

With two world records falling in a matter of hours this was always going to be a fast race and Efimova was able to finish stronger after Meiliutyte had got the stronger start.

Her time of 29.52 was just 0.04 of a second off Meiliutyte's world record, but it was worth a gold medal as she finished 0.07 ahead of the 16-year-old with Jessica Hardy, who had held the world record before racing began on Saturday, finishing taking the bronze medal.