| Women's 100 metre freestyle at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Beijing National Aquatics Center | ||||||||||||
| Date | August 13, 2008 (heats) August 14, 2008(semifinals) August 15, 2008 (final) | ||||||||||||
| Competitors | 49 from 41 nations | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 53.12 OR | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| ← 20042012 → | |||||||||||||
| Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Qualification | ||
| 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 100 metre freestyle event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 13–15 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.
Germany's Britta Steffen blasted a new Olympic record to claim a gold medal in the event. Coming from eighth place in the turn, she posted a time of 53.12 to edge out Australia's world record holder and top favorite Lisbeth Trickett by 0.04 of a second. Swimming in lane eight, Trickett earned a silver with an outside record time of 53.16. She narrowly reached the final as the eighth seed, when China's Pang Jiaying was disqualified for a false start in the semifinals. Meanwhile, U.S. swimmer Natalie Coughlin powered home with a bronze in a matching American record of 53.39 for the second consecutive Olympics. It was Coughlin's fifth medal of these Games, matching her total from Athens four years earlier.
Competing at her third straight Olympics with Steffen, Finland's Hanna-Maria Seppälä finished outside the medals in fourth place at 53.97. Earlier, she posted a top-seeded time of 53.60 from the sixth heat to lead the prelims. She was followed in fifth place by Denmark's Jeanette Ottesen (54.06), and host nation China's Zhu Yingwen, who shared a sixth-place tie with the Netherlands' Marleen Veldhuis in 54.21. Great Britain's Francesca Halsall (54.29) closed out the field.
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record |  Lisbeth Trickett (AUS) |
52.88 | Sydney, Australia | 27 March 2008 | |
| Olympic record |  Jodie Henry (AUS) |
53.52 | Athens, Greece | 18 August 2004 | - |
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 10 | Final* | Britta Steffen |  Germany |
53.38 | OR |
| August 15 | Final | Britta Steffen | Germany |
53.12 | OR |
* Split from the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay
Results
Heats
Semifinals
Semifinal 1
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Natalie Coughlin |  United States |
53.70 | Q |
| 2 | 6 | Zhu Yingwen |  China |
53.84 | Q, AS |
| 3 | 4 | Britta Steffen | Germany |
53.96 | Q |
| 4 | 3 | Lisbeth Trickett | Australia |
54.10 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | Josefin Lillhage |  Sweden |
54.59 | |
| 6 | 1 | Lacey Nymeyer | United States |
54.74 | |
| 7 | 8 | Petra Dallmann | Germany |
55.05 | |
| 8 | 7 | Aliaksandra Herasimenia |  Belarus |
55.31 |
Semifinal 2
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Marleen Veldhuis |  Netherlands |
53.81 | Q |
| 2 | 4 | Hanna-Maria Seppälä |  Finland |
53.84 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | Francesca Halsall |  Great Britain |
53.94 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | Jeanette Ottesen |  Denmark |
54.05 | Q |
| 5 | 7 | Malia Metella |  France |
54.20 | |
| 6 | 1 | Cate Campbell | Australia |
54.54 | |
| 7 | 8 | Erica Morningstar |  Canada |
55.36 | |
| 6 | Pang Jiaying | China |
DSQ |
Note: Lisbeth Trickett advanced to the final only when Chinese swimmer Pang Jiaying, who had finished first in the semifinals, was disqualified for a false start.
Final
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
7 | Britta Steffen | Germany |
53.12 | OR |
 |
8 | Lisbeth Trickett | Australia |
53.16 | |
 |
4 | Natalie Coughlin | United States |
53.39 | =AM |
| 4 | 6 | Hanna-Maria Seppälä | Finland |
53.97 | |
| 5 | 1 | Jeanette Ottesen | Denmark |
54.06 | |
| 6 | 3 | Zhu Yingwen | China |
54.21 | |
| 5 | Marleen Veldhuis | Netherlands |
|||
| 8 | 2 | Francesca Halsall | Great Britain |
54.29 |
References
- "Olympic Swimming Schedule". USA Today. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
- ^ Lohn, John (14 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Worst to First, Britta Steffen Wins 100 Free in Olympic Record". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- "Steffen wins first swimming gold for Germany". NBC Olympics. 14 August 2008. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- "Steffen edges Trickett for gold". BBC Sport. 14 August 2008. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- Lohn, John (13 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Natalie Coughlin Tops 100 Free Semis". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 5 June 2013. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
- "Coughlin claims bronze in 100 free". NBC News. 14 August 2008. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
- Lohn, John (13 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Finland's Hanna-Maria Seppala Leads Qualifying in Women's 100 Free". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 6 May 2013. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
- "Trickett, Sullivan set pool alight". The Sydney Morning Herald. 27 February 2008. Archived from the original on 28 March 2008. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
External links
| Olympic champions in women's 100 m freestyle | |
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