The women's 200 metre individual medley event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held from 26 to 28 July 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.[1] It will be the event's twelfth appearance, having been first held in 1968 and 1972 and then at every edition since 1984.
Summary
Japan's home favourite Yui Ohashi pulled away from a tight field to strike a medley double for the seventh straight Olympics, having already won gold in the 400 m race. Second at the final turn behind the U.S.' Alex Walsh, Ohashi narrowly eclipsed the American to win gold in 2:08.52. While leading at the 150, Walsh faded over the closing stages to claim silver in a personal best time of 2:08.65. Walsh's teammate Kate Douglass moved through the field in the breaststroke, before charging home in the freestyle leg to take the bronze in 2:09.04. Third at the final turn, Great Britain's Abbie Wood could not hold off Douglass at the finish and settled for fourth 11 hundredths of a second back in 2:09.15.
China's Yu Yiting, the early leader after the butterfly and backstroke legs, fell of the pace to come fifth in a world junior record of 2:09.57. Canada's 2019 World Championships bronze medallist Sydney Pickrem repeated her sixth-place finish from Rio five years earlier, touching in 2:10.05. Hungary's defending champion and world record holder Katinka Hosszú was unable to replicate her sterling Rio performance and claimed a distant seventh in 2:12.78. Wood's teammate Alicia Wilson (2:12.86) rounded out the championship field.
The medals for competition were presented by Hungary's Dániel Gyurta, IOC member, and the gifts were presented by Uruguay's Verónica Stanham, FINA Bureau Member.
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
The Olympic Qualifying Time for the event is 2:12.56. Up to two swimmers per National Olympic Committee (NOC) can automatically qualify by swimming that time at an approved qualification event. The Olympic Selection Time is 2:16.54. Up to one swimmer per NOC meeting that time is eligible for selection, allocated by world ranking until the maximum quota for all swimming events is reached. NOCs without a female swimmer qualified in any event can also use their universality place.[5]
Competition format
The competition consists of three rounds: heats, semifinals, and a final. The swimmers with the best 16 times in the heats advance to the semifinals. The swimmers with the best 8 times in the semifinals advance to the final. Swim-offs are used as necessary to break ties for advancement to the next round.[6]
