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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.[1]

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.[2][3][4] She narrowly reached the final as the eighth seed, when China's Pang Jiaying was disqualified for a false start in the semifinals.[5] 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.[6]

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.[7] 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.[2]

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 [8]
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 leadoff* Britta Steffen  Germany 53.38 OR
August 15 Final Britta Steffen  Germany 53.12 OR

* Olympic record split from the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay

Results

Heats

Rank Heat Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 6 3 Hanna-Maria Seppälä  Finland 53.60 Q, NR
2 6 4 Britta Steffen  Germany 53.67 Q
3 6 5 Marleen Veldhuis  Netherlands 53.76 Q
4 7 5 Natalie Coughlin  United States 53.82 Q
5 5 6 Francesca Halsall  Great Britain 53.93 Q
6 7 4 Lisbeth Trickett  Australia 53.99 Q
7 6 6 Pang Jiaying  China 54.01 Q, =AS
7 7 Zhu Yingwen  China Q, =AS
9 4 5 Jeanette Ottesen  Denmark 54.04 Q
10 6 2 Josefin Lillhage  Sweden 54.07 Q
11 7 3 Malia Metella  France 54.12 Q
12 5 7 Aliaksandra Herasimenia  Belarus 54.52 Q
13 5 4 Cate Campbell  Australia 54.55 Q
14 5 3 Lacey Nymeyer  United States 54.62 Q
15 7 6 Erica Morningstar  Canada 54.66 Q
16 6 7 Petra Dallmann  Germany 54.70 Q*
7 1 Julia Wilkinson  Canada
18 5 2 Alena Popchanka  France 54.86
19 7 8 Tatiana Barbosa  Brazil 55.01
20 6 1 Agata Ewa Korc  Poland 55.14 NR
21 6 8 Lize-Mari Retief  South Africa 55.17
22 4 3 Anna Gostomelsky  Israel 55.18
23 5 1 Martina Moravcová  Slovakia 55.20
24 5 5 Inge Dekker  Netherlands 55.23
25 4 4 Anastasia Aksenova  Russia 55.29
26 3 3 Hannah Wilson  Hong Kong 55.32
27 4 8 Darya Stepanyuk  Ukraine 55.51
28 3 4 Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace  Bahamas 55.61
29 3 2 Birgit Koschischek  Austria 55.62
30 4 2 Arlene Semeco  Venezuela 55.70
31 5 8 Jana Klusáčková  Czech Republic 55.92
32 3 1 Chang Hee-jin  South Korea 55.96
33 4 7 Triin Aljand  Estonia 56.10
34 2 5 Quah Ting Wen  Singapore 56.14
35 3 5 Ragnheidur Ragnarsdottir  Iceland 56.35
36 3 8 Anna Stylianou  Cyprus 56.38
37 3 7 Eleni Kosti  Greece 56.44
38 4 1 Miroslava Najdanovski  Serbia 56.50
39 2 6 Natthanan Junkrajang  Thailand 56.56
40 2 4 Orsolya Tompa  Hungary 56.57
41 2 7 Christel Simms  Philippines 56.67 NR
42 4 6 Maria Laura Simonetto  Italy 56.72
43 2 3 Nieh Pin-chieh  Chinese Taipei 57.28
44 3 6 Nina Sovinek  Slovenia 57.30
45 1 4 Madeleine Scerri  Malta 57.97 NR
46 2 2 Irina Shlemova  Uzbekistan 58.77
47 1 5 Elena Popovska  Macedonia 59.93
48 1 6 Olga Hachatryan  Turkmenistan 1:14.77
7 2 Caitlin McClatchey  Great Britain DNS

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
1st place, gold medalist(s) 7 Britta Steffen  Germany 53.12 OR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) 8 Lisbeth Trickett  Australia 53.16
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 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

  1. ^ "Olympic Swimming Schedule". USA Today. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  2. ^ a b 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.
  3. ^ "Steffen wins first swimming gold for Germany". NBC Olympics. 14 August 2008. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
  4. ^ "Steffen edges Trickett for gold". BBC Sport. 14 August 2008. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ "Coughlin claims bronze in 100 free". NBC News. 14 August 2008. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ "Trickett, Sullivan set pool alight". The Sydney Morning Herald. 27 February 2008. Archived from the original on 28 March 2008. Retrieved 6 August 2008.

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