Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's 100 metre freestyle
The women's 100 metre freestyle event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 13–15 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.[1]
Women's 100 metre freestyle at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad | |||||||||||||
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Venue | Beijing National Aquatics Center | ||||||||||||
Date | August 13, 2008 (heats) August 14, 2008(semifinals) August 15, 2008 (final) | ||||||||||||
Competitors | 49 from 41 nations | ||||||||||||
Winning time | 53.12 OR | ||||||||||||
Medalists | |||||||||||||
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Germany's Britta Steffen blasted a new Olympic record to claim a gold medal in the event. Coming from eighth place in the turn, she posted a time of 53.12 to edge out Australia's world record holder and top favorite Lisbeth Trickett by 0.04 of a second. Swimming in lane eight, Trickett earned a silver with an outside record time of 53.16.[2][3][4] She narrowly reached the final as the eighth seed, when China's Pang Jiaying was disqualified for a false start in the semifinals.[5] Meanwhile, U.S. swimmer Natalie Coughlin powered home with a bronze in a matching American record of 53.39 for the second consecutive Olympics. It was Coughlin's fifth medal of these Games, matching her total from Athens four years earlier.[6]
Competing at her third straight Olympics with Steffen, Finland's Hanna-Maria Seppälä finished outside the medals in fourth place at 53.97. Earlier, she posted a top-seeded time of 53.60 from the sixth heat to lead the prelims.[7] She was followed in fifth place by Denmark's Jeanette Ottesen (54.06), and host nation China's Zhu Yingwen, who shared a sixth-place tie with the Netherlands' Marleen Veldhuis in 54.21. Great Britain's Francesca Halsall (54.29) closed out the field.[2]
Records
editPrior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
World record | Lisbeth Trickett (AUS) | 52.88 | Sydney, Australia | 27 March 2008 | [8] |
Olympic record | Jodie Henry (AUS) | 53.52 | Athens, Greece | 18 August 2004 | - |
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
August 10 | Final* | Britta Steffen | Germany | 53.38 | OR |
August 15 | Final | Britta Steffen | Germany | 53.12 | OR |
* Split from the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay
Results
editHeats
editSemifinals
editSemifinal 1
editRank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 5 | Natalie Coughlin | United States | 53.70 | Q |
2 | 6 | Zhu Yingwen | China | 53.84 | Q, AS |
3 | 4 | Britta Steffen | Germany | 53.96 | Q |
4 | 3 | Lisbeth Trickett | Australia | 54.10 | Q |
5 | 2 | Josefin Lillhage | Sweden | 54.59 | |
6 | 1 | Lacey Nymeyer | United States | 54.74 | |
7 | 8 | Petra Dallmann | Germany | 55.05 | |
8 | 7 | Aliaksandra Herasimenia | Belarus | 55.31 |
Semifinal 2
editRank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 5 | Marleen Veldhuis | Netherlands | 53.81 | Q |
2 | 4 | Hanna-Maria Seppälä | Finland | 53.84 | Q |
3 | 3 | Francesca Halsall | Great Britain | 53.94 | Q |
4 | 2 | Jeanette Ottesen | Denmark | 54.05 | Q |
5 | 7 | Malia Metella | France | 54.20 | |
6 | 1 | Cate Campbell | Australia | 54.54 | |
7 | 8 | Erica Morningstar | Canada | 55.36 | |
6 | Pang Jiaying | China | DSQ |
Note: Lisbeth Trickett advanced to the final only when Chinese swimmer Pang Jiaying, who had finished first in the semifinals, was disqualified for a false start.
Final
editRank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
7 | Britta Steffen | Germany | 53.12 | OR | |
8 | Lisbeth Trickett | Australia | 53.16 | ||
4 | Natalie Coughlin | United States | 53.39 | =AM | |
4 | 6 | Hanna-Maria Seppälä | Finland | 53.97 | |
5 | 1 | Jeanette Ottesen | Denmark | 54.06 | |
6 | 3 | Zhu Yingwen | China | 54.21 | |
5 | Marleen Veldhuis | Netherlands | |||
8 | 2 | Francesca Halsall | Great Britain | 54.29 |
References
edit- ^ "Olympic Swimming Schedule". USA Today. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
- ^ a b Lohn, John (14 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Worst to First, Britta Steffen Wins 100 Free in Olympic Record". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- ^ "Steffen wins first swimming gold for Germany". NBC Olympics. 14 August 2008. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- ^ "Steffen edges Trickett for gold". BBC Sport. 14 August 2008. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- ^ Lohn, John (13 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Natalie Coughlin Tops 100 Free Semis". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 5 June 2013. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
- ^ "Coughlin claims bronze in 100 free". NBC News. 14 August 2008. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
- ^ Lohn, John (13 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Finland's Hanna-Maria Seppala Leads Qualifying in Women's 100 Free". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 6 May 2013. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
- ^ "Trickett, Sullivan set pool alight". The Sydney Morning Herald. 27 February 2008. Archived from the original on 28 March 2008. Retrieved 6 August 2008.