Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Women's 100 metre freestyle
| Women's 100 metre freestyle at the Games of the XXVII Olympiad | |||||||||||||
| Venue | Sydney International Aquatic Centre | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | September 20, 2000 (heats & semifinals) September 21, 2000 (final) | ||||||||||||
| Competitors | 56 from 51 nations | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 53.83 | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Swimming events at the 2000 Summer Olympics  | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freestyle | ||||
| 50 m | men | women | ||
| 100 m | men | women | ||
| 200 m | men | women | ||
| 400 m | men | women | ||
| 800 m | women | |||
| 1500 m | men | |||
| Backstroke | ||||
| 100 m | men | women | ||
| 200 m | men | women | ||
| Breaststroke | ||||
| 100 m | men | women | ||
| 200 m | men | women | ||
| Butterfly | ||||
| 100 m | men | women | ||
| 200 m | men | women | ||
| Individual medley | ||||
| 200 m | men | women | ||
| 400 m | men | women | ||
| Freestyle relay | ||||
| 4×100 m | men | women | ||
| 4×200 m | men | women | ||
| Medley relay | ||||
| 4×100 m | men | women | ||
The women's 100 metre freestyle event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 20–21 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia.[1]
Dutch rising star Inge de Bruijn stormed home on the final lap to claim her second gold at these Games. She powered past her rivals in a star-studded field to touch the wall first in 53.83.[2] Earlier in the semifinals, she delivered a time of 53.77 to erase her own world record by 0.03 of a second.[3][4] Almost stealing the race from lane one, Therese Alshammar took home the silver in a Swedish record of 54.33. Meanwhile, top favorites Dara Torres and Jenny Thompson gave the Americans a further reason to celebrate, as they shared bronze medals in a matching time of 54.63. This was also Thompson's ninth career medal at these Games, making her the most decorated female swimmer in Olympic history.[5][6]
Slovakia's Martina Moravcová, who captured two silver medals in swimming, finished outside the podium in fifth place at 54.72. South Africa's Helene Muller managed to pull off a sixth-place finish in an African standard of 55.19. Japan's Sumika Minamoto (55.53) and De Bruijn's teammate Wilma van Rijn (55.58) closed out the field.[6]
Notable swimmers failed to reach the top 8 final, featuring Australia's overwhelming favorites Sarah Ryan and Susie O'Neill, Germany's Sandra Völker, silver medalist in Atlanta four years earlier, and Egypt's Rania Elwani, who surprisingly reached the semifinals from an unseeded heat.[7]
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record |  Inge de Bruijn (NED) | 53.80 | Sheffield, Great Britain | 28 May 2000 | [8] |
| Olympic record |  Le Jingyi (CHN) | 54.50 | Atlanta, United States | 20 July 1996 | [8] |
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 September | Semifinal 2 | Inge de Bruijn | Netherlands | 53.77 | WR |
Results
Heats
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Semifinals
Semifinal 1
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Dara Torres |  United States | 55.02 | Q |
| 2 | 5 | Martina Moravcová |  Slovakia | 55.06 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | Wilma van Rijn | Netherlands | 55.28 | Q |
| 4 | 3 | Therese Alshammar |  Sweden | 55.31 | Q |
| 5 | 6 | Sue Rolph |  Great Britain | 55.69 | |
| 6 | 7 | Sarah Ryan |  Australia | 55.93 | |
| 7 | 1 | Laura Nicholls |  Canada | 55.94 | |
| 8 | 8 | Alena Popchanka | .svg.png){kind=small} Belarus | 56.40 |
Semifinal 2
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Inge de Bruijn | Netherlands | 53.77 | Q, WR |
| 2 | 5 | Jenny Thompson | United States | 54.40 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | Helene Muller |  South Africa | 55.24 | Q, AF |
| 4 | 2 | Sumika Minamoto |  Japan | 55.62 | Q |
| 5 | 1 | Karen Pickering | Great Britain | 55.71 | |
| 6 | 8 | Rania Elwani |  Egypt | 55.85 | NR |
| 7 | 7 | Louise Jöhncke | Sweden | 55.94 | |
| 8 | 6 | Sandra Völker |  Germany | 55.97 |
Final
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 4 | Inge de Bruijn | Netherlands | 53.83 | |
 | 1 | Therese Alshammar | Sweden | 54.33 | NR |
 | 5 | Jenny Thompson | United States | 54.63 | |
| | 3 | Dara Torres | United States | 54.63 | |
| 5 | 6 | Martina Moravcová | Slovakia | 54.72 | |
| 6 | 2 | Helene Muller | South Africa | 55.19 | AF |
| 7 | 8 | Sumika Minamoto | Japan | 55.53 | |
| 8 | 7 | Wilma van Rijn | Netherlands | 55.58 |
References
- ↑ "Swimming schedule". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 14 September 2000. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
- ↑ Berlin, Peter (22 September 2000). "De Bruijn Takes Second Gold; Hungarian and Italian Also Triumph : European Swimmers Steal the Show". New York Times. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
- ↑ "De Bruijn smashes record". BBC Sport. 20 September 2000. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
- ↑ Morrissey, Rick (21 September 2000). "Dutch Treat In The Pool". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
- ↑ "Americans tie for bronze in 100 free". ESPN. 21 September 2000. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
- 1 2 Whitten, Phillip (21 September 2000). "Olympic Day 6 Finals". Swimming World Magazine. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- ↑ Whitten, Phillip (20 September 2000). "Olympic Day 5 Prelims". Swimming World Magazine. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
- 1 2 3 "Sydney 2000: Swimming – Women's 100m Freestyle Heats" (PDF). Sydney 2000. LA84 Foundation. pp. 178–180. Retrieved 14 June 2013.