The men's 200 metre butterfly event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 11–13 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.[1]
| Men's 200 metre butterfly at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Beijing National Aquatics Center | ||||||||||||
| Date | August 11, 2008 (heats) August 12, 2008 (semifinals) August 13, 2008 (final) | ||||||||||||
| Competitors | 44 from 39 nations | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 1:52.03 WR | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps blasted a new world record of 1:52.03 to defend his title in the event, and more importantly, claim his fourth Olympic gold, tenth career, and twelfth overall medal. During the final, Phelps' goggles filled with water, which prevented him from seeing anything, while he was finishing the second lap.[2]
Hungary's László Cseh added a second silver to his hardware from the 400 m individual medley, breaking a European record of 1:52.70. Japan's Takeshi Matsuda powered home with a bronze medal in 1:52.97.[3][4]
New Zealand's Moss Burmester shared a fourth place with host nation China's Wu Peng in 1:54.35, while Poland's Paweł Korzeniowski finished sixth with a time of 1:54.60. Brazil's Kaio de Almeida (1:54.71) and Russia's Nikolay Skvortsov (1:55.14) rounded out the finale.[3]
Earlier in the semifinals, Phelps registered his own Olympic record of 1:53.70 to establish a strong lead for the top 8 final, matching his preliminary time in the process.[5]
Records edit
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record |  Michael Phelps (USA) |
1:52.09 | Melbourne, Australia | 28 March 2007 | [6] |
| Olympic record |  Michael Phelps (USA) |
1:54.04 | Athens, Greece | 17 August 2004 | - |
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 11 | Heat 6 | Michael Phelps | United States |
1:53.70 | OR |
| August 12 | Semifinal 2 | Michael Phelps | United States |
1:53.70 | =OR |
| August 13 | Final | Michael Phelps | United States |
1:52.03 | WR |
Results edit
Heats edit
Semifinals edit
Semifinal 1 edit
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Takeshi Matsuda |  Japan |
1:54.02 | Q, AS |
| 2 | 3 | Nikolay Skvortsov |  Russia |
1:54.31 | Q, NR |
| 3 | 4 | László Cseh |  Hungary |
1:54.35 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | Moss Burmester |  New Zealand |
1:55.26 | Q |
| 5 | 6 | Gil Stovall | United States |
1:55.36 | |
| 6 | 7 | Dinko Jukić |  Austria |
1:55.65 | |
| 7 | 1 | Sergiy Advena |  Ukraine |
1:56.64 | |
| 8 | 8 | Hsu Chi-chieh |  Chinese Taipei |
1:57.48 |
Semifinal 2 edit
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Michael Phelps | United States |
1:53.70 | Q, =OR |
| 2 | 6 | Wu Peng |  China |
1:54.93 | Q |
| 3 | 5 | Kaio de Almeida |  Brazil |
1:55.21 | Q |
| 4 | 3 | Paweł Korzeniowski |  Poland |
1:55.35 | Q |
| 5 | 8 | Chen Yin | China |
1:55.88 | |
| 6 | 2 | Michael Rock |  Great Britain |
1:55.90 | |
| 7 | 7 | Ryuichi Shibata | Japan |
1:56.17 | |
| 8 | 1 | Ioan Gherghel |  Romania |
1:56.57 |
Final edit
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
4 | Michael Phelps | United States |
1:52.03 | WR |
 |
6 | László Cseh | Hungary |
1:52.70 | EU |
 |
5 | Takeshi Matsuda | Japan |
1:52.97 | AS |
| 4 | 1 | Moss Burmester | New Zealand |
1:54.35 | OC |
| 4 | 2 | Wu Peng | China |
1:54.35 | |
| 6 | 8 | Paweł Korzeniowski | Poland |
1:54.60 | |
| 7 | 7 | Kaio de Almeida | Brazil |
1:54.71 | |
| 8 | 3 | Nikolay Skvortsov | Russia |
1:55.14 |
References edit
- ^ "Olympic Swimming Schedule". USA Today. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
- ^ Siddons, Larry (13 August 2008). "Water-Filled Goggles Can't Keep Phelps From Gold Mark". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
- ^ a b Lohn, John (13 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: World Record Bonanza Continues, Michael Phelps Clips Standard in 200 Fly". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 9 May 2013. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
- ^ "Phelps sets world marks, becomes winningest Olympic athlete". ESPN. 13 August 2008. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
- ^ Lohn, John (12 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Michael Phelps Ties Olympic Record in 200 Fly Semis". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 6 May 2013. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
- ^ Clarey, Christopher (29 March 2007). "Phelps smashes another world record, his own". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 April 2008.