Cielo wins freestyle gold at Pan American Games

Olympic gold medalist and world record-holder Cesar Cielo won the 50m freestyle at the Pan American Games, the Brazilian's third gold medal of the 2011 games. Cielo, who won his second world title in the 50m free at Shanghai in July, didn't quite match his time from worlds but improved his own Pan American Games record with a victory in 21.58sec. "I had a target to swim as close as I could or better than I did in the world championships," said Cielo, who clocked 21.52 in Shanghai and set the world record of 20.91 in 2009. "I wasn't thinking about the record, I just wanted to improve my time and try to do the best I could." Cielo also won the 100m freestyle and helped Brazil claim gold in the 4x100m free relay in Guadalajara. "The target was to swim under 21.5 and I swam right on 21.5, so I'm pretty happy with that," said Cielo, who is already looking toward an Olympic title defence in London next year. "There are a few things to improve for next year, but it feels great to win again and defend my title from 2007." Cielo led a Brazilian one-two ahead of Bruno Fratus (22.05) with Cuba's Hanser Garcia third in 22.15. "It has been a good games for Brazilian swimming," Cielo said. Competition wraps up in the Pan Am pool on Friday. Attention will turn to athletics on Sunday. While the Pan American Games serve for many as a proving ground before they reach the heights of Olympic or world competition, some well-known stars will be on hand at the stadium, including Brazil's Fabiana Murer, who the women's pole vault title at the athletics World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, in August, and Cuba's Olympic champion and world record-holding hurdler Dayron Robles. Robles crossed the line first in the 110m hurdles in Daegu but was sensationally disqualified for impeding Chinese star Liu Xiang.