Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre freestyle

Men's 200 metre freestyle
at the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad
VenueAthens Olympic Aquatic Centre
DatesAugust 15, 2004 (heats &
semifinals)
August 16, 2004 (final)
Competitors59 from 55 nations
Winning time1:44.71 OR
Medalists
 
 
 
Swimming events at the
2004 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

The men's 200 metre freestyle event at the 2004 Summer Olympics was contested at the Olympic Aquatic Centre of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex in Athens, Greece. The event took place on 15 and 16 August.

In the lead-up to the final, the event was billed as The Race of the Century or the "greatest swimming race of all-time", due to its significance and high-class field. It featured four of the fastest swimmers in Olympic history: Ian Thorpe (Australia, world record holder in the event at the time), Pieter van den Hoogenband (Netherlands, defending Olympic champion), Grant Hackett (Australia, former world record holder in the event), and Michael Phelps (United States, later became the most decorated all-time Olympian, with a total of 22 medals).

Thorpe edged out Pieter van den Hoogenband in the final 50 metres to claim his second gold at the Games and fifth career medal, following his triumph in the 400 m freestyle two days earlier.[1] With only 50 metres to go, he powered past his arch-rival to touch the wall first in an Olympic record of 1:44.71, matching the third fastest swim over the distance. Van den Hoogenband, who led the field through the first three laps under a world record pace, settled only for the silver in 1:45.23.[2] Meanwhile, Phelps finished the race with a bronze in an American record of 1:45.32, ending his hopes of emulating Mark Spitz's 1972 record of seven gold medals.[2][3][4]

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows:

World record  Ian Thorpe (AUS) 1:44.06 Fukuoka, Japan 25 July 2001
Olympic record  Pieter van den Hoogenband (NED) 1:45.35 Sydney, Australia 18 September 2000

The following records were established during the competition:

Date Event Name Nationality Time Record
16 August Final Ian Thorpe Australia 1:44.71 OR

Results

Heats

Rank Heat Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 8 4 Thorpe, IanIan Thorpe Australia 1:47.22 Q
2 8 5 van den Hoogenband, PieterPieter van den Hoogenband Netherlands 1:47.32 Q
3 8 3 Brembilla, EmilianoEmiliano Brembilla Italy 1:47.95 Q
4 7 5 Keller, KleteKlete Keller United States 1:47.97 Q
5 6 4 Phelps, MichaelMichael Phelps United States 1:48.43 Q
6 8 6 Burnett, SimonSimon Burnett Great Britain 1:48.68 Q
7 7 4 Hackett, GrantGrant Hackett Australia 1:48.90 Q
8 7 6 Schreiber, JensJens Schreiber Germany 1:49.00 Q, WD
9 8 2 Svoboda, KvětoslavKvětoslav Svoboda Czech Republic 1:49.25 Q
10 6 5 Say, RickRick Say Canada 1:49.32 Q
11 8 1 Meichtry, DominikDominik Meichtry Switzerland 1:49.45 Q
12 7 7 Bovell, GeorgeGeorge Bovell Trinidad and Tobago 1:49.48 Q
13 7 2 Okumura, YoshihiroYoshihiro Okumura Japan 1:49.54 Q
14 7 3 Hayden, BrentBrent Hayden Canada 1:49.56 Q
15 7 8 Zisimos, AndreasAndreas Zisimos Greece 1:49.60 Q
16 6 3 Kapralov, AndreyAndrey Kapralov Russia 1:49.91 Q
17 6 7 Wildeboer, OlafOlaf Wildeboer Spain 1:50.01 Q
18 5 3 Carstensen, JacobJacob Carstensen Denmark 1:50.15
19 6 6 Herbst, StefanStefan Herbst Germany 1:50.23
20 6 1 Castro, RodrigoRodrigo Castro Brazil 1:50.27
21 5 8 Binevičius, SauliusSaulius Binevičius Lithuania 1:50.50
22 8 7 Mankoč, PeterPeter Mankoč Slovenia 1:50.72
23 5 4 Miloslavskis, RomānsRomāns Miloslavskis Latvia 1:50.83
24 7 1 Kuznetsov, MaksimMaksim Kuznetsov Russia 1:50.93
25 8 8 Rostoucher, NicolasNicolas Rostoucher France 1:50.96
26 5 5 Koll, DominikDominik Koll Austria 1:51.36
27 4 2 Vereitinov, DmytroDmytro Vereitinov Ukraine 1:51.38
28 4 3 Ilika Brenner, JoshuaJoshua Ilika Brenner Mexico 1:51.66
29 5 1 Monteiro, LuísLuís Monteiro Portugal 1:51.78
30 5 1 Drzewiński, ŁukaszŁukasz Drzewiński Poland 1:51.90
31 2 6 Alexandrov, MihailMihail Alexandrov Bulgaria 1:52.12
32 5 7 Szűcs, TamásTamás Szűcs Hungary 1:52.26
33 5 6 Han, Kyu-ChulHan Kyu-Chul South Korea 1:52.28
34 4 8 Alleyne, DamianDamian Alleyne Barbados 1:52.89
35 3 2 Malenko, AleksandarAleksandar Malenko Macedonia 1:53.00
35 4 7 Mebarek, MahrezMahrez Mebarek Algeria 1:53.00
37 4 5 Salabutau, YahorYahor Salabutau Belarus 1:53.03
38 3 5 Subirats, AlbertAlbert Subirats Venezuela 1:53.11
39 4 6 Zolezzi, GiancarloGiancarlo Zolezzi Chile 1:53.18
40 3 7 Pereyra, Juan MartínJuan Martín Pereyra Argentina 1:53.19
40 3 8 Fraser, ShauneShaune Fraser Cayman Islands 1:53.19
42 4 1 Molina, MiguelMiguel Molina Philippines 1:53.81
43 6 8 Zhang, LinZhang Lin China 1:53.84
44 3 3 Aresti, AlexandrosAlexandros Aresti Cyprus 1:53.90
45 2 3 Kutscher, MartínMartín Kutscher Uruguay 1:53.91
46 6 2 Beccari, AndreaAndrea Beccari Italy 1:54.00
47 3 4 Chen, Te-TungChen Te-Tung Chinese Taipei 1:54.14
48 1 5 Erhartić, IgorIgor Erhartić Serbia and Montenegro 1:54.21
49 2 5 Pinciuc, ŞtefanŞtefan Pinciuc Moldova 1:54.56
50 2 1 Ben Naceur, AnouarAnouar Ben Naceur Tunisia 1:54.69
51 2 2 Chay, MarkMark Chay Singapore 1:54.70
52 4 4 Mindan, AytekinAytekin Mindan Turkey 1:55.65
53 2 4 Bellaz, AdilAdil Bellaz Morocco 1:55.79
54 3 6 Delač, MarioMario Delač Croatia 1:55.82
55 2 7 Khan, VitaliyVitaliy Khan Kazakhstan 1:56.11
56 3 1 Mularoni, DiegoDiego Mularoni San Marino 1:56.18
57 2 8 Vasiliev, PetrPetr Vasiliev Uzbekistan 1:56.93
58 1 3 Khomasuridze, ZurabZurab Khomasuridze Georgia 1:58.02
59 1 4 Ismailov, RuslanRuslan Ismailov Kyrgyzstan 2:01.53

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 4 Pieter van den Hoogenband Netherlands 1:46.00 Q
2 5 Klete Keller United States 1:47.28 Q
3 3 Simon Burnett Great Britain 1:47.72 Q
4 6 Květoslav Svoboda Czech Republic 1:49.27
5 7 Yoshihiro Okumura Japan 1:49.49
6 1 Andreas Zisimos Greece 1:49.76
7 2 Dominik Meichtry Switzerland 1:50.02
8 8 Olaf Wildeboer Spain 1:50.61

Semifinal 2

Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 4 Ian Thorpe Australia 1:46.65 Q
2 3 Michael Phelps United States 1:47.08 Q
3 6 Grant Hackett Australia 1:47.61 Q
4 5 Emiliano Brembilla Italy 1:47.93 Q
5 2 Rick Say Canada 1:48.16 Q
6 7 George Bovell Trinidad and Tobago 1:49.59
7 1 Brent Hayden Canada 1:50.00
8 8 Andrey Kapralov Russia 1:51.35

Final

Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1st 5 Ian Thorpe Australia 1:44.71 OR
2nd 4 Pieter van den Hoogenband Netherlands 1:45.23
3rd 3 Michael Phelps United States 1:45.32 AM
4 6 Klete Keller United States 1:46.13
5 2 Grant Hackett Australia 1:46.56
6 8 Rick Say Canada 1:47.55
7 7 Simon Burnett Great Britain 1:48.02
8 1 Emiliano Brembilla Italy 1:48.40

References

  1. ↑ "Australia hails Athens hero Thorpe". CNN. 17 August 2004. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Thomas, Stephen (16 August 2004). "The Thorpedo Triumphs over Hoogie in the “Race of the Century”, Phelps Takes the Bronze". Swimming World Magazine. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
  3. ↑ "Thorpe torpedoes his world rivals". CNN. 17 August 2004. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
  4. ↑ Gordos, Phil (17 August 2004). "Thorpe steals Phelps' thunder". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 May 2013.

External links