Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metre individual medley
| Women's 200 metre individual medley at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad | ||||||||||
 Stephanie Rice | ||||||||||
| Venue | Beijing National Aquatics Center | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | August 11, 2008 (heats) August 12, 2008 (semifinals) August 13, 2008 (final) | |||||||||
| Competitors | 39 from 30 nations | |||||||||
| Winning time | 2:08.45 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 women's 200 metre individual medley event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 11–13 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.[1]
Australia's Stephanie Rice became the third swimmer in Olympic history to strike a medley double, since Michelle Smith did so in 1996 and Yana Klochkova in 2000 and 2004. She established a sterling time of 2:08.45 to lower her world record from the Olympic trials by almost half a second (0.50).[2][3] Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry added a third silver to her collection, finishing with an African record of 2:08.59. U.S. swimmer Natalie Coughlin, who held the lead on the backstroke leg, picked up a bronze medal in 2:10.34.[4][5]
Completing the second half of a difficult double, American Katie Hoff produced the same result from the 200 m freestyle, as she finished again in fourth place with a time of 2:10.68.[6] Australia's Alicia Coutts placed fifth in 2:11.43, while Japan's Asami Kitagawa swam the outside lane to finish the race in sixth place at 2:11.56. On the strength of the breaststroke leg, Kitagawa won a swimoff for the last slot in the top 8 final over Hungary's Evelyn Verrasztó.[7] Canada's Julia Wilkinson (2:12.43) and Poland's Katarzyna Baranowska (2:13.36) closed out the field.[4]
Earlier in the semifinals, Coventry established an Olympic standard of 2:09.53 to cut off Yana Klochkova's eight-year record by a 1.15-second deficit.[7][8]
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record |  Stephanie Rice (AUS) | 2:08.92 | Sydney, Australia | 25 March 2008 | [9] |
| Olympic record |  Yana Klochkova (UKR) | 2:10.68 | Sydney, Australia | 19 September 2000 | - |
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 12 | Semifinal 1 | Kirsty Coventry |  Zimbabwe | 2:09.53 | OR |
| August 13 | Final | Stephanie Rice | Australia | 2:08.45 | WR |
Results
Heats
Semifinals
Semifinal 1
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Kirsty Coventry | Zimbabwe | 2:09.53 | Q, OR |
| 2 | 3 | Stephanie Rice | Australia | 2:10.58 | Q |
| 3 | 4 | Katie Hoff |  United States | 2:10.90 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | Katarzyna Baranowska |  Poland | 2:12.13 | Q, NR |
| 5 | 5 | Hannah Miley |  Great Britain | 2:12.35 | |
| 6 | 8 | Svetlana Karpeeva |  Russia | 2:13.26 | |
| 7 | 1 | Mireia Belmonte García |  Spain | 2:13.45 | |
| 8 | 7 | Li Jiaxing |  China | 2:13.47 |
Semifinal 2
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Natalie Coughlin | United States |
2:11.84 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | Julia Wilkinson |  Canada |
2:12.03 | Q |
| 2 | 4 | Alicia Coutts | Australia |
2:12.03 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | Asami Kitagawa |  Japan |
2:12.18 | QSO |
| 4 | 7 | Evelyn Verrasztó |  Hungary |
2:12.18 | QSO |
| 6 | 3 | Julie Hjorth-Hansen |  Denmark |
2:12.26 | |
| 7 | 6 | Camille Muffat |  France |
2:12.36 | |
| 8 | 8 | Keri-Anne Payne | Great Britain |
2:14.14 |
Swimoff
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Asami Kitagawa | Japan |
2:12.02 | Q |
| 2 | 4 | Evelyn Verrasztó | Hungary |
2:14.96 |
Final
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 5 | Stephanie Rice | Australia | 2:08.45 | WR |
 | 4 | Kirsty Coventry | Zimbabwe | 2:08.59 | AF |
 | 6 | Natalie Coughlin | United States | 2:10.34 | |
| 4 | 3 | Katie Hoff | United States | 2:10.68 | |
| 5 | 2 | Alicia Coutts | Australia | 2:11.43 | |
| 6 | 8 | Asami Kitagawa | Japan | 2:11.56 | |
| 7 | 7 | Julia Wilkinson | Canada | 2:12.43 | |
| 8 | 1 | Katarzyna Baranowska | Poland | 2:13.36 | |
References
- ↑ "Olympic Swimming Schedule". USA Today. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
- ↑ Cowley, Michael (14 August 2008). "Rice and shine". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
- ↑ "Rice claims medley double". ABC News. 13 August 2008. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
- 1 2 Lohn, John (12 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Stephanie Rice Clocks World Record to Win 200 IM". Swimming World Magazine. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
- ↑ "Rice edges thrilling medley final". BBC Sport. 13 August 2008. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
- ↑ "World records fall in women's 200 free, 200 IM". ESPN. 13 August 2008. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
- 1 2 Lohn, John (11 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Kirsty Coventry Clocks Olympic Record in 200 IM Semis". Swimming World Magazine. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
- ↑ "Rice out-touches Coventry for gold medal, Julia's rise through world rankings meteoric". Stratford Beacon-Herald. 13 August 2008. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
- ↑ "Rice claims new world mark for medley". The Age. 25 March 2008. Retrieved 6 August 2008.