Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metre breaststroke

Women's 200 metre breaststroke
at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad
VenueBeijing National Aquatics Center
DateAugust 13, 2008 (heats)
August 14, 2008 (semifinals)
August 15, 2008 (final)
Competitors41 from 34 nations
Winning time2:20.22 WR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Rebecca Soni  United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Leisel Jones  Australia
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Sara Nordenstam  Norway
← 2004
2012 →
Swimming at the
2008 Summer Olympics
Sample picture of the event (unofficial)
Qualification
Freestyle
50 mmenwomen
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
400 mmenwomen
800 mwomen
1500 mmen
Backstroke
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
Breaststroke
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
Butterfly
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
Individual medley
200 mmenwomen
400 mmenwomen
Freestyle relay
4 × 100 mmenwomen
4 × 200 mmenwomen
Medley relay
4 × 100 mmenwomen
Marathon
10 kmmenwomen

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]

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

Leisel Jones, the world record holder and favourite for the 200 m breaststroke.

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

Heats

Rank Heat Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 5 4 Rebecca Soni  United States 2:22.17 Q, OR
2 6 4 Leisel Jones  Australia 2:23.81 Q
3 6 5 Mirna Jukić  Austria 2:24.39 Q
4 6 1 Sara Nordenstam  Norway 2:24.47 Q
5 4 6 Rie Kaneto  Japan 2:24.62 Q
6 5 5 Megumi Taneda  Japan 2:24.75 Q
7 4 5 Annamay Pierse  Canada 2:25.01 Q
8 4 4 Yuliya Yefimova  Russia 2:25.07 Q
9 5 7 Suzaan van Biljon  South Africa 2:25.51 Q
10 5 3 Sally Foster  Australia 2:25.54 Q
11 6 3 Jung Seul-ki  South Korea 2:25.95 Q
12 6 6 Joline Höstman  Sweden 2:26.00 Q
13 6 2 Qi Hui  China 2:26.16 Q
14 5 2 Anne Poleska  Germany 2:26.74 Q
15 4 8 Elise Matthysen  Belgium 2:27.04 Q
16 4 1 Jeong Da-rae  South Korea 2:27.28 Q
17 3 7 Inna Kapishina  Belarus 2:27.34 NR
18 4 3 Amanda Beard  United States 2:27.70
19 2 2 Siow Yi Ting  Malaysia 2:27.80
20 4 2 Olga Detenyuk  Russia 2:27.87
5 1 Kirsty Balfour  Great Britain
22 3 4 Adriana Marmolejo  Mexico 2:28.10 NR
23 6 8 Yuliya Pidlisna  Ukraine 2:28.84
24 4 7 Mireia Belmonte García  Spain 2:29.46
25 2 4 Alia Atkinson  Jamaica 2:29.53
26 6 7 Luo Nan  China 2:29.67
27 3 1 Katalin Bor  Hungary 2:29.95
28 3 2 Sara El Bekri  Morocco 2:30.04
29 3 3 Diana Gomes  Portugal 2:30.18
30 5 8 Sophie de Ronchi  France 2:30.93
31 2 7 Marina Kuč  Montenegro 2:31.24 NR
32 2 3 Dilara Buse Günaydin  Turkey 2:31.86
33 3 6 Nađa Higl  Serbia 2:32.78
34 2 6 Smiljana Marinović  Croatia 2:32.80
35 1 5 Raminta Dvariškytė  Lithuania 2:33.32
36 2 5 Nicolette Teo  Singapore 2:34.60
37 3 8 Agustina de Giovanni  Argentina 2:34.94
38 3 5 Angeliki Exarchou  Greece 2:36.83
39 1 3 Noora Laukkanen  Finland 2:38.97
40 1 4 Tatiane Sakemi  Brazil 2:39.13
5 6 Sarah Poewe  Germany DNS

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

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

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

Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) 4 Rebecca Soni  United States 2:20.22 WR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) 5 Leisel Jones  Australia 2:22.05
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 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

  1. ^ "Olympic Swimming Schedule". USA Today. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  2. ^ Majendie, Paul (15 August 2008). "Soni goes from heart surgery to gold medal". Reuters. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  3. ^ "Rebecca Soni breaks 200m breaststroke record". France 24. 15 August 2008. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  4. ^ Breen, Neil (15 August 2008). "Leisel Jones collapses after silver in 200m breaststroke final at Beijing Olympics". Herald Sun. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ "Swimmer Phelps wins a sixth gold medal at Beijing". CTV News. 15 August 2008. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ Cowley, Michael (2 February 2006). "Lethal again: Jones beats own record". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 6 August 2008.