The women's 50 metre freestyle event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place between 12–13 August at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium.[1]
| Women's 50 metre freestyle at the Games of the XXXI Olympiad | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Olympic Aquatics Stadium | |||||||||
| Dates | 12 August 2016 (heats & semifinals) 13 August 2016 (final) | |||||||||
| Competitors | 91 from 76 nations | |||||||||
| Winning time | 24.07 | |||||||||
| Medalists | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
Summary edit
Pernille Blume defeated the field of experienced sprinters to give Denmark its first Olympic swimming title in 68 years. Leading the program's shortest race from prelims into the semifinals, she splashed her way to a gold-medal triumph in 24.07, but fell short of her attempt to overhaul Ranomi Kromowidjojo's Olympic record by a small fraction of a second.[2][3] U.S. sprinter Simone Manuel, newly crowned Olympic champion of the 100 m freestyle, settled for the silver in 24.09, stopping 0.02 seconds behind Blume.[4][5] Meanwhile, London 2012 runner-up Aliaksandra Herasimenia of Belarus secured the top three spot with a 24.11 for the bronze.[6]
Great Britain's Francesca Halsall narrowly missed out of the medals by 0.02 of a second, finishing with a fourth-place time in 24.13.[citation needed] Unable to bounce back from their out-of-medal feat in the 100 m freestyle, sisters and pre-race favorites Cate (24.15) and Bronte Campbell (24.42) slipped to fifth and seventh, respectively, while defending champion Kromowidjojo of the Netherlands split the Australian duo to take the sixth spot in 24.19.[7][8] Brazil's hometown favorite Etiene Medeiros wrapped up the top eight with a 24.69.[6]
Notable swimmers failed to reach the top eight final, including Blume's fellow sprinter Jeanette Ottesen, London 2012 finalist Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace of the Bahamas, and Swedish tandem of three-time medalist Sarah Sjöström and Therese Alshammar, who built a historic milestone as the first ever female in the pool to compete at her sixth Olympics.[9]
Records edit
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record |  Britta Steffen (GER) |
23.73 | Rome, Italy | 2 August 2009 | [10][11] |
| Olympic record |  Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED) |
24.05 | London, United Kingdom | 4 August 2012 | [12][13] |
Competition format edit
The competition consisted of three rounds: heats, semifinals, and a final. The swimmers with the best 16 times in the heats advanced to the semifinals. The swimmers with the best 8 times in the semifinals advanced to the final. Swim-offs were used as necessary to break ties for advancement to the next round.[1]
Results edit
Heats edit
Semifinals edit
Semifinal 1 edit
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Francesca Halsall |  Great Britain |
24.41 | Q |
| 2 | 5 | Bronte Campbell |  Australia |
24.43 | Q |
| 3 | 8 | Etiene Medeiros |  Brazil |
24.45 | Q, SA |
| 4 | 1 | Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace |  Bahamas |
24.60 | |
| 5 | 6 | Chantal Van Landeghem |  Canada |
24.61 | |
| 6 | 3 | Jeanette Ottesen |  Denmark |
24.62 | |
| 7 | 2 | Sarah Sjöström |  Sweden |
24.69 | |
| 8 | 7 | Therese Alshammar | Sweden |
24.72 |
Semifinal 2 edit
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Pernille Blume | Denmark |
24.28 | Q |
| 2 | 6 | Cate Campbell | Australia |
24.32 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | Ranomi Kromowidjojo | Netherlands |
24.39 | Q |
| 4 | 7 | Simone Manuel |  United States |
24.44 | Q |
| 5 | 5 | Aliaksandra Herasimenia |  Belarus |
24.53 | Q |
| 6 | 3 | Abbey Weitzeil | United States |
24.67 | |
| 7 | 8 | Dorothea Brandt |  Germany |
24.71 | |
| 8 | 1 | Inge Dekker | Netherlands |
25.31 |
Final edit
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
4 | Pernille Blume | Denmark |
24.07 | NR |
 |
7 | Simone Manuel | United States |
24.09 | |
 |
8 | Aliaksandra Herasimenia | Belarus |
24.11 | NR |
| 4 | 6 | Francesca Halsall | Great Britain |
24.13 | |
| 5 | 5 | Cate Campbell | Australia |
24.15 | |
| 6 | 3 | Ranomi Kromowidjojo | Netherlands |
24.19 | |
| 7 | 2 | Bronte Campbell | Australia |
24.42 | |
| 8 | 1 | Etiene Medeiros | Brazil |
24.69 |
References edit
- ^ a b "Women's 50m Freestyle". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on 20 August 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
- ^ "Denmark gets first gold as Blume wins 50m freestyle". The Local. 13 August 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
- ^ Baldwin, Alan (13 August 2016). "Swimming: Blume wins Denmark's first swim gold since 1948". Reuters. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
- ^ Amick, Sam (13 August 2016). "Simone Manuel wins silver in women's 50 free". USA Today. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
- ^ "Simone Manuel sprints to silver in 50 free; Denmark wins gold". Chicago Tribune. 13 August 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
- ^ a b "Pernille Blume Dashes To 50 Free Dominance". Swimming World Magazine. 13 August 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
- ^ Sharwood, Anthony (14 August 2016). "Cate Campbell 5th, Bronte 7th, In Rio Olympics 50m Freestyle". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
- ^ "Cate Campbell and Bronte Campbell miss medals in Rio Olympics' 50m freestyle". Sydney Morning Herald. 14 August 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
- ^ "Pernille Blume Posts Fastest 50 Freestyle Prelims Time". Swimming World Magazine. 12 August 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
- ^ "Fifth gold for Phelps at swimming worlds". CNN. 2 August 2009. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
- ^ Bryan, Rebecca (3 August 2009). "Five-star Phelps ends worlds on golden note". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
- ^ Dillman, Lisa (4 August 2012). "London Olympics: Ranomi Kromowidjojo wins 50-meter freestyle". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
- ^ "Swimming: Kromowidjojo wins 50m freestyle gold". Reuters. 4 August 2012. Retrieved 12 July 2013.