Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's 50 metre freestyle
The men's 50 metre freestyle event at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place on 14–16 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.[1]
| Men's 50 metre freestyle at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 The medal ceremony of the 50m final. | |||||||||||||
| Venue | Beijing National Aquatics Center | ||||||||||||
| Dates | August 14, 2008 (heats) August 15, 2008 (semifinals) August 16, 2008 (final) | ||||||||||||
| Competitors | 97 from 90 nations | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 21.30 OR | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
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| 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 |
César Cielo made an Olympic milestone to become Brazil's first ever gold medalist in swimming. He rocketed to an unexpected triumph in a new Olympic record of 21.30, then the second-fastest in history, powering past the field by 0.15 of a second, a sizable chunk in Olympic swimming's shortest race.[2][3] The French tandem of Amaury Leveaux and Alain Bernard took home the silver and bronze with respective times of 21.45 and 21.49.[4]
Australia's Ashley Callus finished fourth in 21.62, while his teammate and world record holder Eamon Sullivan was a fraction behind the leading pack in sixth at 21.65.[5] For the first time in Olympic history, no American swimmer had reached the podium in the event, as the reigning world champion Ben Wildman-Tobriner, swimming on the outside in lane eight, pulled off a fifth-place effort in 21.64.[6] Competing at their third Olympics, South Africa's Roland Mark Schoeman (21.67) and Sweden's Stefan Nystrand (21.72) rounded out the finale in seventh and eighth place, respectively.[4]
Earlier in the prelims, Cielo posted a time of 21.47 to erase Alexander Popov's 1992 Olympic record by 0.44 of a second. One heat later, Leveaux established the same record by winning the twelfth heat in 21.46.[7] The following morning, in the semifinals, Cielo lowered again an Olympic record to 21.34 that had been set by Leveaux in the preliminaries under 0.12 seconds.[8]
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Eamon Sullivan (AUS) | 21.28 | Sydney, Australia | 28 March 2008 | [9] |
| Olympic record |  Alexander Popov (EUN) | 21.91 | Barcelona, Spain | 30 July 1992 | - |
The following Olympic records were set during this competition.
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 August | Heat 11 | César Cielo |  Brazil | 21.47 | OR |
| 14 August | Heat 12 | Amaury Leveaux |  France | 21.46 | OR |
| 15 August | Semifinal 2 | César Cielo | Brazil | 21.34 | OR |
| 16 August | Final | César Cielo | Brazil | 21.30 | OR |
Qualification
The A standard for the event was 22.35 seconds. Up to two swimmers per National Olympic Committee (NOC) could qualify by swimming that time at an approved qualification event. The B standard was 23.13 seconds. Up to one swimmer per NOC meeting that time could qualify. NOCs without a male swimmer qualified in any event could also use their universality place.[10]
Competition format
The competition consisted of three rounds: heats, semifinals, and a final. The swimmers with the best 16 times in the heats advanced to the semifinals. The swimmers with the best 8 times in the semifinals advanced to the final. Swim-offs were used as necessary to break ties for advancement to the next round.
Results
Heats
The swimmers with the top 16 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the semifinals.
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Semifinals
The swimmers with the top 8 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the final.
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Name | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 4 | César Cielo Filho | Brazil |
21.34 | Q, OR, AM |
| 2 | 2 | 6 | Alain Bernard | France |
21.54 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | 1 | Ashley Callus |  Australia |
21.68 | Q |
| 4 | 1 | 5 | Stefan Nystrand |  Sweden | 21.71 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | 3 | Roland Mark Schoeman |  South Africa |
21.74 | Q |
| 6 | 1 | 6 | Eamon Sullivan | Australia |
21.75 | Q |
| 7 | 2 | 4 | Amaury Leveaux | France |
21.76 | Q |
| 2 | 5 | Ben Wildman-Tobriner |  United States |
Q | ||
| 9 | 1 | 1 | Krisztián Takács |  Hungary |
21.84 | |
| 10 | 1 | 7 | Duje Draganja |  Croatia |
21.85 | |
| 11 | 1 | 3 | George Bovell |  Trinidad and Tobago |
21.86 | |
| 12 | 1 | 8 | Gideon Louw | South Africa |
21.97 | |
| 13 | 2 | 2 | Garrett Weber-Gale | United States |
22.08 | |
| 14 | 1 | 2 | Rafed El-Masri |  Germany |
22.09 | |
| 15 | 2 | 8 | Bartosz Kizierowski |  Poland |
22.12 | |
| 16 | 2 | 7 | Nicholas Santos | Brazil |
22.15 |
Final
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 4 | César Cielo Filho | Brazil | 21.30 | OR, AM |
 | 1 | Amaury Leveaux | France | 21.45 | |
 | 5 | Alain Bernard | France | 21.49 | |
| 4 | 3 | Ashley Callus | Australia | 21.62 | |
| 5 | 8 | Ben Wildman-Tobriner | United States | 21.64 | |
| 6 | 7 | Eamon Sullivan | Australia | 21.65 | |
| 7 | 2 | Roland Mark Schoeman | South Africa | 21.67 | AF |
| 8 | 6 | Stefan Nystrand | Sweden | 21.72 |
References
- "Olympic Swimming Schedule". USA Today. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
- "'Big Cesar' races to first Brazilian swim gold". ESPN. 16 August 2008. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- "Cielo hands Brazil's first swimming gold". South China Morning Post. 16 August 2008. Archived from the original on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- Lohn, John (16 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Cesar Cielo Claims 50 Free Gold in Olympic Record Time". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 25 June 2013. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- "Cielo Filho takes 50m gold". ABC News. 16 August 2008. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- Crumpacker, John (16 August 2008). "Wildman-Tobriner is 5th in the 50". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- Lohn, John (14 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Olympic Standard Falls Twice in Men's 50 Free Prelims". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 21 June 2013. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- Lohn, John (14 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Cesar Cielo Drops Olympic Record in 50 Free Semis". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 3 May 2013. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- "Sullivan snaps 50m record again". ABC News. 28 February 2008. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
- "Olympic Qualifying Procedures for Swimming" (PDF). FINA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-03-04. Retrieved 2007-03-20.
External links
| 50 yards | |
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| 50 metres | |
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