Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's 800 metre freestyle

Women's 800 metre freestyle
at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad
VenueBeijing National Aquatics Center
DateAugust 14, 2008 (heats)
August 16, 2008 (final)
Competitors36 from 29 nations
Winning time8:14.10 WR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Rebecca Adlington  Great Britain
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Alessia Filippi  Italy
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Lotte Friis  Denmark
← 2004
2012 →

The women's 800 metre freestyle event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 14 and 16 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.[1]

Great Britain's Rebecca Adlington broke one of the oldest world records in the book to claim a second Olympic gold, following her first triumph in the 400 m freestyle. She touched the wall first in 8:14.10, slashing 2.12-second deficit off Janet Evans' world record which had stood for nearly 19 years.[2][3]

Coming from sixth place in the 350-metre lap, Italy's Alessia Filippi registered a time of 8:20.23 for a silver medal. Lotte Friis ended Denmark's 20-year medal drought in swimming to claim a bronze in 8:23.03, edging out Romania's Camelia Potec (8:23.03) on the final lap by eight-hundredths of a second. China's Li Xuanxu finished fifth with a time of 8:26.34, and was followed in the sixth spot by Australia's Kylie Palmer in 8:26.39. Russia's Yelena Sokolova (8:29.79) and another Brit Cassandra Patten (8:32.35) rounded out the finale. Notable swimmers missed out the top 8 final featuring U.S. top favorites Katie Hoff and Kate Ziegler, both of whom placed tenth and eleventh in the prelims race.[2][4]

Earlier in the prelims, Adlington established a new Olympic standard in a top-seeded time of 8:18.06 to cut down Brooke Bennett's 2000 record by a 1.59-second deficit.[4]

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.

World record  Janet Evans (USA) 8:16.22 Tokyo, Japan 20 August 1989 [5]
Olympic record  Brooke Bennett (USA) 8:19.67 Sydney, Australia 22 September 2000 -

The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.

Date Event Name Nationality Time Record
August 14 Heat 4 Rebecca Adlington  Great Britain 8:18.06 OR
August 16 Final Rebecca Adlington  Great Britain 8:14.10 WR

Results

Heats

Rank Heat Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 4 4 Rebecca Adlington  Great Britain 8:18.06 Q, OR
2 3 5 Camelia Potec  Romania 8:19.70 Q
3 4 2 Lotte Friis  Denmark 8:21.74 Q
4 5 5 Alessia Filippi  Italy 8:21.95 Q
5 4 3 Kylie Palmer  Australia 8:22.81 Q, OC
6 5 1 Yelena Sokolova  Russia 8:23.07 Q, NR
7 3 6 Li Xuanxu  China 8:24.37 Q
8 5 7 Cassandra Patten  Great Britain 8:25.91 Q
9 4 1 Wendy Trott  South Africa 8:26.21 AF
10 5 4 Kate Ziegler  United States 8:26.98
11 3 4 Katie Hoff  United States 8:27.78
12 5 6 Coralie Balmy  France 8:28.34
13 3 3 Flavia Rigamonti  Switzerland 8:28.67
14 3 8 Andreina Pinto  Venezuela 8:30.30 NR
15 4 7 You Meihong  China 8:31.11
16 5 3 Erika Villaécija  Spain 8:32.27
17 5 8 Melissa Gorman  Australia 8:32.34
18 2 4 Susana Escobar  Mexico 8:33.51 NR
19 5 2 Sophie Huber  France 8:33.76
20 2 5 Kristel Köbrich  Chile 8:34.25
21 3 1 Maiko Fujino  Japan 8:35.60
22 2 1 Jördis Steinegger  Austria 8:36.40 NR
23 3 7 Tanya Hunks  Canada 8:38.05
24 2 3 Gabriella Fagundez  Sweden 8:39.06 NR
25 4 6 Jaana Ehmcke  Germany 8:39.51
26 2 6 Réka Nagy  Hungary 8:40.38
27 4 5 Ai Shibata  Japan 8:41.63
28 4 8 Eleftheria Evgenia Efstathiou  Greece 8:41.65
29 1 4 Au Hoishun Stephanie  Hong Kong 8:41.66
30 2 8 Lynette Lim  Singapore 8:45.56
31 2 2 Cecilia Biagioli  Argentina 8:50.18
32 1 5 Golda Marcus  El Salvador 8:51.21
33 1 3 Eva Lehtonen  Finland 8:53.50
34 2 7 Khoo Cai Lin  Malaysia 9:04.86
35 1 6 Karolina Szczepaniak  Poland 9:08.87
3 2 Federica Pellegrini  Italy DNS

Final

Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) 4 Rebecca Adlington  Great Britain 8:14.10 WR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) 6 Alessia Filippi  Italy 8:20.23
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 3 Lotte Friis  Denmark 8:23.03
4 5 Camelia Potec  Romania 8:23.11
5 1 Li Xuanxu  China 8:26.34
6 2 Kylie Palmer  Australia 8:26.39
7 7 Yelena Sokolova  Russia 8:29.79
8 8 Cassandra Patten  Great Britain 8:32.35

References

  1. ^ "Olympic Swimming Schedule". USA Today. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  2. ^ a b Lohn, John (15 August 2008). "We Loved You While You Lasted Janet, Rebecca Adlington Erases Longest Standing World Record With Evans' Mark in 800 Free". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  3. ^ "Adlington storms to second gold". BBC Sport. 16 August 2008. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  4. ^ a b Lohn, John (14 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Rebecca Adlington Sets Olympic Record in 800 Free Prelims". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  5. ^ Dimond, Jeff (October 1989). "Swim and Deliver" (PDF). Swimming World and Junior Swimmer. 30 (10): 41–44. Retrieved 8 June 2008.[permanent dead link]