Swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre freestyle
| Men's 100 metre freestyle at the Games of the XXX Olympiad | ||||||||||
| Venue | London Aquatics Centre | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | July 31, 2012 (heats & semifinals) August 1, 2012 (final) | |||||||||
| Competitors | 60 from 54 nations | |||||||||
| Winning time | 47.52 | |||||||||
| Medalists | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| Swimming at the 2012 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 100 metre freestyle event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 31 July and 1 August at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom.[1]
In one of the closest finishes in Olympic history, Nathan Adrian touched out Australia's favorite James Magnussen at the wall by a fingertip to win the event at the Olympics for the Americans for the first time since Matt Biondi topped the podium in 1988. Coming from third at the halfway turn, Adrian powered home on the final stretch, finishing in 47.52 to edge out Magnussen, also known as "The Missile", by a hundredth of a second (0.01).[2][3] Meanwhile, Magnussen ended the most exhilarating race of his life with a heartbreaking defeat, as he accepted a second straight silver for the Aussies in 47.53, adding more than four tenths of a second from his best time of 47.10 at the 2012 Australian Championships.[4][5] Canada's Brent Hayden picked up the bronze in 47.80, winning his first Olympic medal and handing the Canadians their first ever medal in the event's history.[6][7]
After claiming two golds and a silver in the past four days, France's Yannick Agnel could not produce his similar effort with a fourth-place time in 47.84.[8][9] Meanwhile, Netherlands' Sebastiaan Verschuren pulled off a fifth-place finish in 47.88. Heading into the halfway turn with an early lead, Brazil's world record holder César Cielo dropped to sixth in 47.92.[10] Cuba's Hanser García (48.04) and Russia's Nikita Lobintsev (48.44) also tied for an Olympic medal to round out a historic finale.[7]
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record |  César Cielo (BRA) | 46.91 | Rome, Italy | 30 July 2009 | [11][12] |
| Olympic record |  Eamon Sullivan (AUS) | 47.05 | Beijing, China | 13 August 2008 | [13] |
No new records were set during this competition.
Results
Heats
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Semifinals
Semifinal 1
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | James Magnussen | Australia | 47.63 | Q |
| 2 | 2 | César Cielo | Brazil | 48.17 | Q |
| 3 | 6 | Nikita Lobintsev |  Russia | 48.38 | Q |
| 4 | 4 | Gideon Louw |  South Africa | 48.44 | |
| 5 | 1 | Fabien Gilot |  France | 48.49 | |
| 6 | 7 | James Roberts | Australia | 48.57 | |
| 7 | 3 | Brett Fraser |  Cayman Islands | 48.92 | |
| 8 | 8 | Shaune Fraser | Cayman Islands | 49.07 |
Semifinal 2
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Nathan Adrian |  United States | 47.97 | Q |
| 2 | 8 | Hanser García |  Cuba | 48.04 | Q, NR |
| 3 | 5 | Sebastiaan Verschuren |  Netherlands | 48.13 | Q |
| 4 | 3 | Brent Hayden |  Canada | 48.21 | Q |
| 5 | 1 | Yannick Agnel | France | 48.23 | Q |
| 6 | 7 | Konrad Czerniak |  Poland | 48.44 | |
| 7 | 6 | Pieter Timmers | .svg.png){kind=small} Belgium | 48.57 | |
| 8 | 2 | Cullen Jones | United States | 48.60 |
Final
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 5 | Nathan Adrian | United States | 47.52 | |
 | 4 | James Magnussen | Australia | 47.53 | |
 | 7 | Brent Hayden | Canada | 47.80 | |
| 4 | 1 | Yannick Agnel | France | 47.84 | |
| 5 | 6 | Sebastiaan Verschuren | Netherlands | 47.88 | |
| 6 | 2 | César Cielo | Brazil | 47.92 | |
| 7 | 3 | Hanser García | Cuba | 48.04 | =NR |
| 8 | 8 | Nikita Lobintsev | Russia | 48.44 |
References
- ↑ "Swimming: Results & Schedules". London 2012. NBC Olympics. 29 July 2012. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
- ↑ "Nathan Adrian of U.S. wins 100-meter freestyle gold medal by smallest of margins". CBS News. 1 August 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ↑ Auerbach, Nicole (1 August 2012). "Nathan Adrian wins gold in dramatic finish in 100 free". USA Today. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ↑ "Heartbreak as James Magnussen falls to American Nathan Adrian by 1/100th of second". News Corp Australia. 2 August 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ↑ "Agony as Magnussen pipped for 100m gold". ABC News Australia. 1 August 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ↑ "London 2012: Canadian swimmer Brent Hayden wins bronze medal in 100-metre freestyle". Toronto Star. 1 August 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- 1 2 "2012 London Olympics: USA's Nathan Adrian Clips James Magnussen for 100 Free Gold". Swimming World Magazine. 1 August 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ↑ Das, Andrew (1 August 2012). "American Adrian Wins 100-Meter Freestyle". New York Times. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ↑ "USA's Adrian beats Magnussen for 100 free gold". Foxtel. 2 August 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ↑ "Nathan Adrian beats James Magnussen to 100m freestyle gold". BBC Sport. 1 August 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ↑ Crouse, Karen (31 July 2009). "Lochte Finds Phelps Is Everywhere but in the Pool". New York Times. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ↑ "Cielo sets 50-meter freestyle mark". ESPN. 18 December 2009. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ↑ Johanson, Simon (13 August 2008). "Sullivan smashes world record – again". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- ↑ "Men's 100m Freestyle – Heats". London 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012.