South Korean swimming prodigy Park Taehwan realized his dream to win the men's 400m freestyle gold medal at the Olympics on Sunday.

Park clocked in 3:41.86 to top the podium, China's Zhang Lin got the silver in 3:42.44 and American Larsen Jensen finished third in 3:42.78.

Park, wearing a white cap, wore a headphone before starting his race, seeming to be totally focused on what he was about to achieve. The 19-year-old swam close to Australia's Grant Hackett in the first two laps and began taking over Hackett at 150 meters. He maintained the lead and coasted to win his first Olympic gold.

Hackett slipped to the sixth at 3:43.84.

(Xinhua News Agency August 10, 2008)