Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre breaststroke
| Men's 200 metre breaststroke at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad | ||||||||||
| Venue | Beijing National Aquatics Center | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | August 12, 2008 (heats) August 13, 2008 (semifinals) August 14, 2008 (final) | |||||||||
| Competitors | 53 from 39 nations | |||||||||
| Winning time | 2:07.64 OR | |||||||||
| Medalists | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| Swimming events at the 2008 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 | ||
| Marathon | ||||
| 10 km | men | women | ||
The men's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 12–14 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.[1]
Japan's Kosuke Kitajima blasted a new Olympic record of 2:07.64 to strike another breaststroke double, and to defend his title in the event. He registered a straightforward triumph over Brenton Rickard, who earned a silver medal in an Australian record of 2:08.88. France's Hugues Duboscq added a second bronze and third overall to his collection in 2:08.94, finishing just ahead of Canada's Mike Brown by almost a tenth of a second (0.10) with a time of 2:09.03.[2][3]
Hungary's Dániel Gyurta, silver medalist in Athens four years earlier, finished outside the medals in fifth place at 2:09.22.[2] Earlier in the prelims, he established an Olympic record by winning the final of seven heats in 2:08.68.[4]
U.S. swimmer Scott Spann turned in another sub-2:10 barrier to earn a sixth spot in 2:09.76. Italian tandem Loris Facci (2:10.57) and Paolo Bossini (2:11.48) closed out the field.[2] Bossini set a new Olympic record of 2:08.98 to shave 0.46 seconds off Kitajima's mark in Athens, until Gyurta took three-tenths of a second (0.30) off the record time a few minutes later.[5]
Notable swimmers failed to reach the top 8 final, featuring American Eric Shanteau, who entered the Games while battling testicular cancer, and Kazakhstan's Vladislav Polyakov, who finished fifth in Athens four years earlier. Norway's Alexander Dale Oen, silver medalist in the 100 m breaststroke, placed seventeenth in 2:11.30, but missed the semifinals by 0.11 seconds.[4]
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record |  Kosuke Kitajima (JPN) | 2:07.51 | Tokyo, Japan | 8 June 2008 | [6] |
| Olympic record | Kosuke Kitajima (JPN) | 2:09.44 | Athens, Greece | 18 August 2004 | - |
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 12 | Heat 5 | Paolo Bossini |  Italy | 2:08.98 | OR |
| August 12 | Heat 7 | Dániel Gyurta |  Hungary | 2:08.68 | OR |
| August 13 | Semifinal 1 | Kosuke Kitajima | Japan | 2:08.61 | OR |
| August 14 | Final | Kosuke Kitajima | Japan | 2:07.64 | OR |
Results
Heats
Semifinals
Semifinal 1
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Kosuke Kitajima | Japan | 2:08.61 | Q, OR |
| 2 | 2 | Scott Spann |  United States | 2:09.08 | Q |
| 3 | 4 | Paolo Bossini | Italy | 2:09.95 | Q |
| 4 | 5 | Hugues Duboscq |  France | 2:09.97 | Q |
| 5 | 7 | Andrew Bree |  Ireland | 2:10.16 | NR |
| 6 | 6 | William Diering |  South Africa | 2:10.21 | |
| 7 | 1 | Igor Borysik |  Ukraine | 2:10.99 | |
| 8 | 8 | Glenn Snyders |  New Zealand | 2:12.07 |
Semifinal 2
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Mike Brown |  Canada | 2:08.84 | Q, NR |
| 2 | 1 | Brenton Rickard |  Australia | 2:09.72 | Q |
| 3 | 4 | Dániel Gyurta | Hungary | 2:09.73 | Q |
| 4 | 5 | Loris Facci | Italy | 2:09.75 | Q |
| 5 | 3 | Neil Versfeld | South Africa | 2:10.06 | AF |
| 6 | 6 | Eric Shanteau | United States | 2:10.10 | |
| 7 | 8 | Kristopher Gilchrist |  Great Britain | 2:10.27 | NR |
| 8 | 7 | Vladislav Polyakov |  Kazakhstan | 2:11.87 |
Final
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 4 | Kosuke Kitajima | Japan | 2:07.64 | OR |
 | 6 | Brenton Rickard | Australia | 2:08.88 | OC |
 | 8 | Hugues Duboscq | France | 2:08.94 | NR |
| 4 | 5 | Mike Brown | Canada | 2:09.03 | |
| 5 | 2 | Dániel Gyurta | Hungary | 2:09.22 | |
| 6 | 3 | Scott Spann | United States | 2:09.76 | |
| 7 | 7 | Loris Facci | Italy | 2:10.57 | |
| 8 | 1 | Paolo Bossini | Italy | 2:11.48 | |
References
- ↑ "Olympic Swimming Schedule". USA Today. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
- 1 2 3 Lohn, John (13 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Kosuke Kitajima Wins 200 Breast Gold With Olympic Record". Swimming World Magazine. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
- ↑ "Olympics: Kitajima seals double breaststroke gold". Guardian.co.uk. 13 August 2008. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
- 1 2 Lohn, John (12 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Olympic Record Tumbles Twice, Daniel Gyurta Paces Qualifying in 200 Breast". Swimming World Magazine. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
- ↑ Lonsbrough, Anita (12 August 2008). "Records tumble in breastroke and relays". Guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
- ↑ Lord, Craig (8 June 2008). "Kitajima Dons LZR For 2:07.51 WR 200m Breaststroke". Swim News. Retrieved 9 June 2008.