The women's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 13–15 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.[1]
| Women's 200 metre breaststroke at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Beijing National Aquatics Center | ||||||||||||
| Date | August 13, 2008 (heats) August 14, 2008 (semifinals) August 15, 2008 (final) | ||||||||||||
| Competitors | 41 from 34 nations | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 2:20.22 WR | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
U.S. swimmer Rebecca Soni pulled away over the final lap to capture gold and set a new world record of 2:20.22.[2][3] Australia's world record holder and top favorite Leisel Jones enjoyed a strong lead in the first 100 metres, but ended up only with a silver in 2:22.05, almost two seconds behind Soni.[4] Meanwhile, Sara Nordenstam earned Norway's second Olympic medal in swimming, as she powered home with a bronze in a European record of 2:23.02.[5]
Austria's Mirna Jukić finished outside the medals in fourth place at 2:23.24, while Russia's Yuliya Yefimova set a national record of 2:23.76 to hold off Canada's Annamay Pierse (2:23.77) for a fifth spot by a hundredth of a second (0.01).[6] Japanese duo Rie Kaneto (2:25.14) and Megumi Taneda (2:25.23) closed out the field.[5]
Notable swimmers failed to reach the top 8 final, featuring Germany's Anne Poleska, bronze medalist in Athens four years earlier. Competing at her fourth Olympics, defending champion Amanda Beard placed eighteenth in 2:27.70, but missed the semifinals by 0.42 seconds.[7][8]
Earlier in the prelims, Soni posted a top-seeded time of 2:22.17 to lead the heats, cutting off Beard's Olympic record by exactly two-tenths of a second (0.20).[7]
Records edit
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record |  Leisel Jones (AUS) |
2:20.54 | Melbourne, Australia | 1 February 2006 | [9] |
| Olympic record |  Amanda Beard (USA) |
2:23.37 | Athens, Greece | 19 August 2004 | - |
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 13 | Heat 5 | Rebecca Soni | United States |
2:22.17 | OR |
| August 15 | Final | Rebecca Soni | United States |
2:20.22 | WR |
Results edit
Heats edit
Semifinals edit
Semifinal 1 edit
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Leisel Jones |  Australia
|
2:23.04 | Q |
| 2 | 5 | Sara Nordenstam |  Norway
|
2:23.79 | Q, EU |
| 3 | 6 | Yuliya Yefimova |  Russia
|
2:24.00 | Q |
| 4 | 3 | Megumi Taneda |  Japan
|
2:25.42 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | Sally Foster | Australia
|
2:26.33 | |
| 6 | 1 | Anne Poleska |  Germany
|
2:26.71 | |
| 7 | 7 | Joline Höstman |  Sweden
|
2:27.14 | |
| 8 | 8 | Jeong Da-rae |  South Korea
|
2:28.28 |
Semifinal 2 edit
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Rebecca Soni | United States
|
2:22.64 | Q |
| 2 | 5 | Mirna Jukić |  Austria
|
2:23.76 | Q, EU |
| 3 | 6 | Annamay Pierse |  Canada
|
2:23.94 | Q |
| 4 | 3 | Rie Kaneto | Japan
|
2:25.65 | Q |
| 5 | 7 | Jung Seul-ki | South Korea
|
2:26.83 | |
| 6 | 1 | Qi Hui |  China
|
2:27.63 | |
| 7 | 2 | Suzaan van Biljon |  South Africa
|
2:28.45 | |
| 8 | 8 | Elise Matthysen |  Belgium
|
2:29.64 |
Final edit
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
4 | Rebecca Soni | United States
|
2:20.22 | WR |
|
5 | Leisel Jones | Australia
|
2:22.05 | |
|
6 | Sara Nordenstam | Norway
|
2:23.02 | EU |
| 4 | 3 | Mirna Jukić | Austria
|
2:23.24 | NR |
| 5 | 7 | Yuliya Yefimova | Russia
|
2:23.76 | NR |
| 6 | 2 | Annamay Pierse | Canada
|
2:23.77 | NR |
| 7 | 1 | Rie Kaneto | Japan
|
2:25.14 | |
| 8 | 8 | Megumi Taneda | Japan
|
2:25.23 |
References edit
- ^ "Olympic Swimming Schedule". USA Today. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
- ^ Majendie, Paul (15 August 2008). "Soni goes from heart surgery to gold medal". Reuters. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
- ^ "Rebecca Soni breaks 200m breaststroke record". France 24. 15 August 2008. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
- ^ Breen, Neil (15 August 2008). "Leisel Jones collapses after silver in 200m breaststroke final at Beijing Olympics". Herald Sun. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
- ^ a b Lohn, John (14 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Rebecca Soni Upsets Leisel Jones With 200 Breast World Record". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
- ^ "Swimmer Phelps wins a sixth gold medal at Beijing". CTV News. 15 August 2008. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
- ^ a b Lohn, John (13 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Rebecca Soni Sets Olympic, American Record to Lead 200 Breast Qualifying". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 23 June 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
- ^ Pierce, Tony (13 August 2008). "Was Amanda Beard sick, distracted, or just too old to compete in Beijing?". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
- ^ Cowley, Michael (2 February 2006). "Lethal again: Jones beats own record". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 6 August 2008.