Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre breaststroke

Men's 100 metre breaststroke
at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad
VenueBeijing National Aquatics Center
DateAugust 9, 2008 (heats)
August 10, 2008 (semifinals)
August 11, 2008 (final)
Competitors65 from 54 nations
Winning time58.91 WR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Kosuke Kitajima  Japan
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Alexander Dale Oen  Norway
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Hugues Duboscq  France
← 2004
2012 →
Swimming at the
2008 Summer Olympics
Sample picture of the event (unofficial)
Qualification
Freestyle
50 mmenwomen
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
400 mmenwomen
800 mwomen
1500 mmen
Backstroke
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
Breaststroke
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
Butterfly
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
Individual medley
200 mmenwomen
400 mmenwomen
Freestyle relay
4 × 100 mmenwomen
4 × 200 mmenwomen
Medley relay
4 × 100 mmenwomen
Marathon
10 kmmenwomen

The men's 100 metre breaststroke event at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place on 9–11 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.[1]

Japan's Kosuke Kitajima set a new world record of 58.91 to defend his Olympic title in the event. Alexander Dale Oen powered home with a silver in 59.20, earning a first Olympic medal for Norway in swimming. Coming from seventh place in the final turn, France's Hugues Duboscq managed to repeat a bronze from Athens four years earlier, in a time of 59.37.[2][3] U.S. swimmer and defending silver medalist Brendan Hansen pulled off a fourth-place effort in 59.57, two-tenths of a second (0.20) behind Duboscq.[4]

Australia's Brenton Rickard finished fifth with a time of 59.74, and was followed in sixth spot by Russia's Roman Sloudnov, bronze medalist in Sydney (2000), in a national record of 59.87. Ukraine's Igor Borysik (1:00.20) and American Mark Gangloff (1:00.24) rounded out the finale.[2]

Earlier, Dale Oen set a new Olympic record of 59.41 in the prelims, and eventually lowered it to 59.16 in the semifinals by the next morning's session.[5][6] He continued to claim the title at the 2011 FINA World Championships, but his life came to a tragic end on April 30, 2012. Shortly after training at altitude in Arizona, Dale Oen was found unconscious in his apartment shower, and died suddenly from a cardiac arrest at Flagstaff Medical Centre.[7]

Controversy

Iran's Mohammad Alirezaei was due to race against Israel's Tom Be'eri in the fourth heat of the 100 metre breaststroke, but pulled out, apparently under the orders from officials of the Iranian delegation. Efraim Zinger, Olympic Committee of Israel General Secretary, criticized the withdrawal saying "Politics takes precedence over sport with the Iranians and the Olympic spirit is as far from them as east is far from west". Giselle Davies, director of communications for the IOC, said that Alirezaei withdrew because of sickness and submitted his case in writing to his Federation.[8][9] At the 2004 Games in Athens, Iran's Arash Miresmaeili, a two-time world judo champion, refused to compete against Israel's Ehud Vaks in the opening round of the 66 kg competition, later admitting that he made his decision to show solidarity for the Palestinian cause.

Records

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

World record  Brendan Hansen (USA) 59.13 Irvine, United States 1 August 2006 [10]
Olympic record  Brendan Hansen (USA) 1:00.01 Athens, Greece 14 August 2004 -

The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.

Date Event Name Nationality Time Record
August 9 Heat 7 Alexander Dale Oen  Norway 59.41 OR
August 10 Semifinal 2 Alexander Dale Oen  Norway 59.16 OR
August 11 Final Kosuke Kitajima  Japan 58.91 WR

Results

Heats

Rank Heat Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 7 4 Alexander Dale Oen  Norway 59.41 Q, OR
2 8 4 Kosuke Kitajima  Japan 59.52 Q
3 9 5 Hugues Duboscq  France 59.67 Q
4 7 5 Brenton Rickard  Australia 59.89 Q, OC
5 7 7 Cameron van der Burgh  South Africa 59.96 Q, AF
6 9 7 Giedrius Titenis  Lithuania 1:00.11 Q
7 9 3 Roman Sloudnov  Russia 1:00.20 Q
8 8 2 Igor Borysik  Ukraine 1:00.31 Q
9 6 3 Damir Dugonjič  Slovenia 1:00.35 Q
10 7 3 Christian Sprenger  Australia 1:00.36 Q
11 9 4 Brendan Hansen  United States 1:00.65 Q
12 7 6 Oleg Lisogor  Ukraine 1:00.65 Q
13 9 2 Yuta Suenaga  Japan 1:00.67 Q
14 8 7 Mihail Alexandrov  Bulgaria 1:00.69 Q
15 8 5 Chris Cook  Great Britain 1:00.70 Q
16 8 3 Mark Gangloff  United States 1:00.71 Q
17 6 5 Vladislav Polyakov  Kazakhstan 1:00.80
18 4 4 Hunor Mate  Austria 1:00.93 NR
19 8 8 Richárd Bodor  Hungary 1:00.97
20 5 5 Mike Brown  Canada 1:00.98
8 6 Glenn Snyders  New Zealand
22 7 1 Felipe França Silva  Brazil 1:01.04
23 7 2 Henrique Barbosa  Brazil 1:01.11
24 6 7 Matjaž Markič  Slovenia 1:01.31
7 8 Dániel Gyurta  Hungary
26 9 8 Thijs van Valkengoed  Netherlands 1:01.32
27 9 1 Kristopher Gilchrist  Great Britain 1:01.34
28 6 1 Mathieu Bois  Canada 1:01.45
29 6 6 Jiří Jedlička  Czech Republic 1:01.56
30 5 2 Andrew Bree  Ireland 1:01.76
31 5 1 Valentin Preda  Romania 1:01.77
5 3 Jonas Andersson  Sweden
33 3 1 Daniel Velez  Puerto Rico 1:01.80 NR
34 8 1 Dmitry Komornikov  Russia 1:01.82
35 5 4 Yevgeniy Ryzhkov  Kazakhstan 1:01.83
6 4 Borja Iradier  Spain
37 6 2 Melquíades Álvarez  Spain 1:01.89
38 3 2 Sandeep Sejwal  India 1:02.19
39 4 5 Demir Atasoy  Turkey 1:02.25
40 4 2 Čaba Silađi  Serbia 1:02.31
41 3 3 Genaro Prono  Paraguay 1:02.32
42 4 7 Tom Be'eri  Israel 1:02.42 NR
5 6 Vanja Rogulj  Croatia
44 5 7 Sofiane Daid  Algeria 1:02.45
45 4 6 Martti Aljand  Estonia 1:02.46 NR
46 4 8 Xue Ruipeng  China 1:02.48
47 4 3 Jakob Jóhann Sveinsson  Iceland 1:02.50
48 3 6 Malick Fall  Senegal 1:02.51
49 5 8 Viktar Vabishchevich  Belarus 1:03.29
50 9 6 Romanos Alyfantis  Greece 1:03.39
51 3 5 Alwin de Prins  Luxembourg 1:03.64
52 3 4 Sergio Andres Ferreyra  Argentina 1:03.65
53 2 3 Édgar Crespo  Panama 1:03.72
54 2 4 Sergiu Postica  Moldova 1:03.83
55 3 8 Andrei Cross  Barbados 1:04.57
56 3 7 Ivan Demyanenko  Uzbekistan 1:05.14
57 2 6 Wael Koubrousli  Lebanon 1:06.22
58 2 5 Nguyen Huu Viet  Vietnam 1:06.36
59 2 2 Erik Rajohnson  Madagascar 1:08.42
60 2 7 Boldbaataryn Bütekh-Uils  Mongolia 1:10.80
61 1 4 Osama Mohammed Ye Alarag  Qatar 1:10.83
62 1 5 Mohammed Al-Habsi  Oman 1:12.28
63 1 3 Petero Okotai  Cook Islands 1:20.20
6 8 Alessandro Terrin  Italy DSQ
4 1 Mohammad Alirezaei  Iran DNS

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 4 Kosuke Kitajima  Japan 59.55 Q
2 5 Brenton Rickard  Australia 59.65 Q, OC
3 8 Mark Gangloff  United States 1:00.44 Q
4 6 Igor Borysik  Ukraine 1:00.55 Q
5 7 Oleg Lisogor  Ukraine 1:00.56
6 1 Mihail Alexandrov  Bulgaria 1:00.61 NR
7 3 Giedrius Titenis  Lithuania 1:00.66
8 2 Christian Sprenger  Australia 1:00.76

Semifinal 2

Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 4 Alexander Dale Oen  Norway 59.16 Q, OR
2 5 Hugues Duboscq  France 59.83 Q
3 7 Brendan Hansen  United States 59.94 Q
4 6 Roman Sloudnov  Russia 1:00.10 Q
5 3 Cameron van der Burgh  South Africa 1:00.57
6 1 Yuta Suenaga  Japan 1:00.67
7 8 Chris Cook  Great Britain 1:00.81
8 2 Damir Dugonjič  Slovenia 1:00.92

Final

Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) 5 Kosuke Kitajima  Japan 58.91 WR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) 4 Alexander Dale Oen  Norway 59.20
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 6 Hugues Duboscq  France 59.37
4 2 Brendan Hansen  United States 59.57
5 3 Brenton Rickard  Australia 59.74
6 7 Roman Sloudnov  Russia 59.87 NR
7 8 Igor Borysik  Ukraine 1:00.20
8 1 Mark Gangloff  United States 1:00.24

References

  1. ^ "Olympic Swimming Schedule". USA Today. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  2. ^ a b Lohn, John (10 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Kosuke Kitajima Wins Gold in World-Record Time in 100 Breast; Posts First 58 Time in History". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 29 June 2013. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  3. ^ "Kitajima wins 100m breaststroke in WR time". ABC News. 11 August 2008. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  4. ^ Clarey, Christopher (11 August 2008). "Kitajima leaves Hansen and rivalry behind". ABC News. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  5. ^ Lohn, John (9 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Alexander Dale Oen Sets Olympic Record to Lead 100 Breast Prelims". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 25 May 2013. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  6. ^ Baldwin, Alan (9 August 2008). "Oen breaks Olympic record in 100m breaststroke". Reuters. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  7. ^ "Alexander Dale Oen dies at 26". ESPN. 2 May 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  8. ^ "Iranian swimmer quits Olympic race against Israeli". CNN. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  9. ^ Magney, Jacqueline (11 August 2008). "Iranian who quit swim heat may be expelled". The Age. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  10. ^ Harris, Beth (1 August 2006). "Hansen upstages Phelps with world record". The Washington Post. Retrieved 6 August 2008.