Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre freestyle
| Men's 200 metre freestyle at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad | ||||||||||
| Venue | Beijing National Aquatics Center | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | August 10, 2008 (heats) August 11, 2008 (semifinals) August 12, 2008 (final) | |||||||||
| Competitors | 58 from 50 nations | |||||||||
| Winning time | 1:42.96 WR | |||||||||
| 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 freestyle event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 10–12 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.[1]
After winning a bronze in Athens four years earlier, Michael Phelps blasted a new world record of 1:42.96 to claim his third straight gold, ninth career, and eleventh overall medal at the Olympics.[2][3] South Korea's Park Tae-Hwan added a silver to his collection, following an unprecedented triumph in the 400 m freestyle two days earlier. He established a new Asian record of 1:44.85 to clear a 1:45 barrier, and used a final-lap split of 26.17 to edge out Phelps' teammate Peter Vanderkaay, who took home a bronze medal in a personal best of 1:45.14.[2][4]
South Africa's Jean Basson finished fourth with a time of 1:45.97, and was followed in the fifth spot by Germany's Paul Biedermann in 1:46.00. Switzerland's Dominik Meichtry, who raced to a top seed in the prelims, earned a sixth spot in 1:46.95, while Japan's Yoshihiro Okumura (1:47.14) and Great Britain's Robbie Renwick (1:47.47) rounded out the finale.[5] Renwick missed out the semifinals by 0.01 of a second from the prelims, but was offered a second shot, following a sudden withdrawal of two swimmers. Canada's Brent Hayden and France's Amaury Leveaux later scratched the event to focus on their duty in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay.[6]
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record |  Michael Phelps (USA) | 1:43.86 | Melbourne, Australia | 27 March 2007 | [7] |
| Olympic record |  Ian Thorpe (AUS) | 1:44.71 | Athens, Greece | 16 August 2004 | - |
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 12 | Final | Michael Phelps | United States | 1:42.96 | WR |
Results
Heats
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Semifinals
Semifinal 1
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Jean Basson |  South Africa | 1:46.13 | Q |
| 2 | 3 | Danila Izotov |  Russia | 1:47.24 | |
| 3 | 2 | Ross Davenport |  Great Britain | 1:47.35 | |
| 4 | 6 | Emiliano Brembilla |  Italy | 1:47.70 | |
| 5 | 7 | Nicholas Sprenger | Australia | 1:47.80 | |
| 6 | 1 | Dominik Koll |  Austria | 1:47.87 | |
| 7 | 5 | Colin Russell |  Canada | 1:48.13 | |
| 8 | 8 | Rodrigo Castro |  Brazil | 1:48.71 | |
Semifinal 2
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | Peter Vanderkaay | United States | 1:45.76 | Q |
| 2 | 3 | Park Tae-Hwan |  South Korea | 1:45.99 | Q, AS |
| 3 | 5 | Michael Phelps | United States | 1:46.28 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | Paul Biedermann |  Germany | 1:46.41 | Q |
| 5 | 6 | Yoshihiro Okumura |  Japan | 1:46.44 | Q |
| 6 | 4 | Dominik Meichtry |  Switzerland | 1:46.54 | Q |
| 7 | 8 | Robbie Renwick | Great Britain | 1:47.07 | Q |
| 8 | 1 | Nimrod Shapira Bar-Or |  Israel | 1:48.16 | |
Final
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 6 | Michael Phelps | United States | 1:42.96 | WR |
 | 5 | Park Tae-Hwan | South Korea | 1:44.85 | AS |
 | 4 | Peter Vanderkaay | United States | 1:45.14 | |
| 4 | 3 | Jean Basson | South Africa | 1:45.97 | |
| 5 | 2 | Paul Biedermann | Germany | 1:46.00 | |
| 6 | 1 | Dominik Meichtry | Switzerland | 1:46.95 | |
| 7 | 7 | Yoshihiro Okumura | Japan | 1:47.14 | |
| 8 | 8 | Robbie Renwick | Great Britain | 1:47.47 |
References
- ↑ "Olympic Swimming Schedule". USA Today. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
- 1 2 Lohn, John (11 August 2008). "Michael Phelps Sets World Record in 200 Free Win". Swimming World Magazine. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- ↑ "Phelps breaks 200 free world record by nearly a second". ESPN. 11 August 2008. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- ↑ Coffey, Wayne (11 August 2008). "Michael Phelps wins third gold medal, sets record in 200-meter freestyle". New York Daily News. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- ↑ Ross, Jack (26 August 2008). "Dominik Meichtry Leaves Beijing Having Accomplished The Rarest of Feats: He Beat Michael Phelps-Sort Of". The Daily Californian. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- ↑ "Rebecca Adlington wins 400 metres freestyle gold for Great Britain – Beijing Olympics 2008". The Daily Telegraph. 11 August 2008. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- ↑ Clarey, Christopher (28 March 2007). "In night of world records, Phelps leaves biggest ripple in the pool". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 August 2008.