Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Women's 50 metre freestyle
| Women's 50 metre freestyle at the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad | ||||||||||
| Venue | Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | August 20, 2004 (heats & semifinals) August 21, 2004 (final) | |||||||||
| Competitors | 75 from 67 nations | |||||||||
| Winning time | 24.58 | |||||||||
| Medalists | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| Swimming events at the 2004 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 50 metre freestyle event at the 2004 Olympic Games was contested at the Olympic Aquatic Centre of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex in Athens, Greece on August 20 and 21.[1]
Dutch swimmer and world record holder Inge de Bruijn managed to defend her title in this event, outside her record time of 24.58 seconds.[2] The silver medal was awarded to France's Malia Metella, with a time of 24.89 seconds. Australia's Lisbeth Lenton, who finished behind Metella by two hundredths of a second (0.02), took home the bronze at 24.91. This was also the final appearance for de Bruijn at the Olympics, before she retired from her swimming career in 2007.[3]
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record |  Inge de Bruijn (NED) | 24.13 | Sydney, Australia | 22 September 2000 |
| Olympic record | Inge de Bruijn (NED) | 24.13 | Sydney, Australia | 22 September 2000 |
No new records were set during this competition.
Results
Heats
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Semifinals
Semifinal 1
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Kara Lynn Joyce |  United States | 25.06 | Q |
| 2 | 2 | Therese Alshammar |  Sweden | 25.15 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | Marleen Veldhuis | Netherlands | 25.27 | |
| 4 | 1 | Rebeca Gusmão |  Brazil | 25.31 | |
| 5 | 6 | Alison Sheppard |  Great Britain | 25.36 | |
| 6 | 7 | Eileen Coparropa |  Panama | 25.37 | |
| 6 | 8 | Cristina Chiuso | .svg.png){kind=small} Italy | 25.37 | |
| 8 | 5 | Sviatlana Khakhlova | .svg.png){kind=small} Belarus | 25.47 |
Semifinal 2
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Inge de Bruijn | Netherlands | 24.56 | Q |
| 2 | 6 | Lisbeth Lenton |  Australia | 24.90 | Q |
| 3 | 5 | Malia Metella |  France | 24.99 | Q |
| 4 | 3 | Michelle Engelsman | Australia | 25.13 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | Flávia Cazziolato | Brazil | 25.17 | Q |
| 5 | 7 | Jenny Thompson | United States | 25.17 | Q |
| 7 | 1 | Nery Mantey Niangkouara |  Greece | 25.27 | |
| 8 | 8 | Dorothea Brandt |  Germany | 25.83 |
Final
| Rank | Lane | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 4 | Inge de Bruijn | Netherlands | 24.58 | |
 | 3 | Malia Metella | France | 24.89 | |
 | 5 | Lisbeth Lenton | Australia | 24.91 | |
| 4 | 7 | Therese Alshammar | Sweden | 24.93 | |
| 5 | 6 | Kara Lynn Joyce | United States | 25.00 | |
| 6 | 2 | Michelle Engelsman | Australia | 25.06 | |
| 7 | 1 | Jenny Thompson | United States | 25.11 | |
| 8 | 8 | Flávia Cazziolato | Brazil | 25.20 |
References
- ↑ "Swimming schedule". BBC Sport. 5 August 2004. Retrieved 17 June 2007.
- ↑ "Inge de Bruijn defends 50m free title". Xinhua News Agency (People's Daily). 22 August 2004. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
- ↑ "Olympic champion de Bruijn retires". Associated Press (NDTV). 22 March 2007. Retrieved 19 March 2013.