Before the 2003 World Championships in Barcelona, Luo set her goal at erasing Penny Heyns' 1:06.52 from the world record books. The record was indeed broken in Barcelona, not by Luo but by Australia's 2000 Olympic silver medallist Leisel Jones in the semi-finals (1:06.37). Luo, the defending champion, immediately became the underdog as she qualified 3rd fastest (1:07.76). In the event final, as all eyes (and pressure) were on Jones, Luo took the race out really hard, splitting a mind-boggling 30.87 at the 50m mark. This strategy worked as Jones was disturbed by Luo's horrid pace. Luo hanged on to win the race in yet another Asian record of 1:06.80, the 3rd fastest time in history. Jones only managed 3rd in 1:07.47, with the USA's Amanda Beard 2nd in 1:07.42. Luo also defended her 50 breaststroke world title in 30.67 (30.64 in semi-finals, just 0.07 sec off the WR), and swam the fastest breaststroke relay split (1:05.79) to help China win the 4x100 medley relay in 3:59.89 (Asian record and 2nd fastest time in history; 2nd team after the USA to crack 4 mins).