Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's 100 metre freestyle

Women's 100 metre freestyle
at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad
VenueBeijing National Aquatics Center
DateAugust 13, 2008 (heats)
August 14, 2008(semifinals)
August 15, 2008 (final)
Competitors49 from 41 nations
Winning time53.12 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Britta Steffen  Germany
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Lisbeth Trickett  Australia
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Natalie Coughlin  United States
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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 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]

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

Prior 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

Heats

Rank Heat Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 6 3 Hanna-Maria Seppälä  Finland 53.60 Q, NR
2 6 4 Britta Steffen  Germany 53.67 Q
3 6 5 Marleen Veldhuis  Netherlands 53.76 Q
4 7 5 Natalie Coughlin  United States 53.82 Q
5 5 6 Francesca Halsall  Great Britain 53.93 Q
6 7 4 Lisbeth Trickett  Australia 53.99 Q
7 6 6 Pang Jiaying  China 54.01 Q, =AS
7 7 Zhu Yingwen  China Q, =AS
9 4 5 Jeanette Ottesen  Denmark 54.04 Q
10 6 2 Josefin Lillhage  Sweden 54.07 Q
11 7 3 Malia Metella  France 54.12 Q
12 5 7 Aliaksandra Herasimenia  Belarus 54.52 Q
13 5 4 Cate Campbell  Australia 54.55 Q
14 5 3 Lacey Nymeyer  United States 54.62 Q
15 7 6 Erica Morningstar  Canada 54.66 Q
16 6 7 Petra Dallmann  Germany 54.70 Q*
7 1 Julia Wilkinson  Canada
18 5 2 Alena Popchanka  France 54.86
19 7 8 Tatiana Barbosa  Brazil 55.01
20 6 1 Agata Ewa Korc  Poland 55.14 NR
21 6 8 Lize-Mari Retief  South Africa 55.17
22 4 3 Anna Gostomelsky  Israel 55.18
23 5 1 Martina Moravcová  Slovakia 55.20
24 5 5 Inge Dekker  Netherlands 55.23
25 4 4 Anastasia Aksenova  Russia 55.29
26 3 3 Hannah Wilson  Hong Kong 55.32
27 4 8 Darya Stepanyuk  Ukraine 55.51
28 3 4 Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace  Bahamas 55.61
29 3 2 Birgit Koschischek  Austria 55.62
30 4 2 Arlene Semeco  Venezuela 55.70
31 5 8 Jana Klusáčková  Czech Republic 55.92
32 3 1 Chang Hee-jin  South Korea 55.96
33 4 7 Triin Aljand  Estonia 56.10
34 2 5 Quah Ting Wen  Singapore 56.14
35 3 5 Ragnheidur Ragnarsdottir  Iceland 56.35
36 3 8 Anna Stylianou  Cyprus 56.38
37 3 7 Eleni Kosti  Greece 56.44
38 4 1 Miroslava Najdanovski  Serbia 56.50
39 2 6 Natthanan Junkrajang  Thailand 56.56
40 2 4 Orsolya Tompa  Hungary 56.57
41 2 7 Christel Simms  Philippines 56.67 NR
42 4 6 Maria Laura Simonetto  Italy 56.72
43 2 3 Nieh Pin-chieh  Chinese Taipei 57.28
44 3 6 Nina Sovinek  Slovenia 57.30
45 1 4 Madeleine Scerri  Malta 57.97 NR
46 2 2 Irina Shlemova  Uzbekistan 58.77
47 1 5 Elena Popovska  Macedonia 59.93
48 1 6 Olga Hachatryan  Turkmenistan 1:14.77
7 2 Caitlin McClatchey  Great Britain DNS

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Rank 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

Rank 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

Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) 7 Britta Steffen  Germany 53.12 OR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) 8 Lisbeth Trickett  Australia 53.16
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 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

  1. ^ "Olympic Swimming Schedule". USA Today. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ "Steffen wins first swimming gold for Germany". NBC Olympics. 14 August 2008. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
  4. ^ "Steffen edges Trickett for gold". BBC Sport. 14 August 2008. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ "Coughlin claims bronze in 100 free". NBC News. 14 August 2008. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ "Trickett, Sullivan set pool alight". The Sydney Morning Herald. 27 February 2008. Archived from the original on 28 March 2008. Retrieved 6 August 2008.