Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's 800 metre freestyle

The women's 800 metre freestyle event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 14 and 16 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.[1]

Women's 800 metre freestyle
at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad
VenueBeijing National Aquatics Center
DateAugust 14, 2008 (heats)
August 16, 2008 (final)
Competitors36 from 29 nations
Winning time8:14.10 WR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Rebecca Adlington  Great Britain
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Alessia Filippi  Italy
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Lotte Friis  Denmark
← 2004
2012 →

Great Britain's Rebecca Adlington broke one of the oldest world records in the book to claim a second Olympic gold, following her first triumph in the 400 m freestyle. She touched the wall first in 8:14.10, slashing 2.12-second deficit off Janet Evans' world record which had stood for nearly 19 years.[2][3]

Coming from sixth place in the 350-metre lap, Italy's Alessia Filippi registered a time of 8:20.23 for a silver medal. Lotte Friis ended Denmark's 20-year medal drought in swimming to claim a bronze in 8:23.03, edging out Romania's Camelia Potec (8:23.03) on the final lap by eight-hundredths of a second. China's Li Xuanxu finished fifth with a time of 8:26.34, and was followed in the sixth spot by Australia's Kylie Palmer in 8:26.39. Russia's Yelena Sokolova (8:29.79) and another Brit Cassandra Patten (8:32.35) rounded out the finale. Notable swimmers missed out the top 8 final featuring U.S. top favorites Katie Hoff and Kate Ziegler, both of whom placed tenth and eleventh in the prelims race.[2][4]

Earlier in the prelims, Adlington established a new Olympic standard in a top-seeded time of 8:18.06 to cut down Brooke Bennett's 2000 record by a 1.59-second deficit.[4]

Records

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

World record   Janet Evans (USA) 8:16.22 Tokyo, Japan 20 August 1989 [5]
Olympic record   Brooke Bennett (USA) 8:19.67 Sydney, Australia 22 September 2000 -

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

Date Event Name Nationality Time Record
August 14 Heat 4 Rebecca Adlington   Great Britain 8:18.06 OR
August 16 Final Rebecca Adlington   Great Britain 8:14.10 WR

Results

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Heats

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Rank Heat Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 4 4 Rebecca Adlington   Great Britain 8:18.06 Q, OR
2 3 5 Camelia Potec   Romania 8:19.70 Q
3 4 2 Lotte Friis   Denmark 8:21.74 Q
4 5 5 Alessia Filippi   Italy 8:21.95 Q
5 4 3 Kylie Palmer   Australia 8:22.81 Q, OC
6 5 1 Yelena Sokolova   Russia 8:23.07 Q, NR
7 3 6 Li Xuanxu   China 8:24.37 Q
8 5 7 Cassandra Patten   Great Britain 8:25.91 Q
9 4 1 Wendy Trott   South Africa 8:26.21 AF
10 5 4 Kate Ziegler   United States 8:26.98
11 3 4 Katie Hoff   United States 8:27.78
12 5 6 Coralie Balmy   France 8:28.34
13 3 3 Flavia Rigamonti   Switzerland 8:28.67
14 3 8 Andreina Pinto   Venezuela 8:30.30 NR
15 4 7 You Meihong   China 8:31.11
16 5 3 Erika Villaécija   Spain 8:32.27
17 5 8 Melissa Gorman   Australia 8:32.34
18 2 4 Susana Escobar   Mexico 8:33.51 NR
19 5 2 Sophie Huber   France 8:33.76
20 2 5 Kristel Köbrich   Chile 8:34.25
21 3 1 Maiko Fujino   Japan 8:35.60
22 2 1 Jördis Steinegger   Austria 8:36.40 NR
23 3 7 Tanya Hunks   Canada 8:38.05
24 2 3 Gabriella Fagundez   Sweden 8:39.06 NR
25 4 6 Jaana Ehmcke   Germany 8:39.51
26 2 6 Réka Nagy   Hungary 8:40.38
27 4 5 Ai Shibata   Japan 8:41.63
28 4 8 Eleftheria Evgenia Efstathiou   Greece 8:41.65
29 1 4 Au Hoishun Stephanie   Hong Kong 8:41.66
30 2 8 Lynette Lim   Singapore 8:45.56
31 2 2 Cecilia Biagioli   Argentina 8:50.18
32 1 5 Golda Marcus   El Salvador 8:51.21
33 1 3 Eva Lehtonen   Finland 8:53.50
34 2 7 Khoo Cai Lin   Malaysia 9:04.86
35 1 6 Karolina Szczepaniak   Poland 9:08.87
3 2 Federica Pellegrini   Italy DNS

Final

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Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
  4 Rebecca Adlington   Great Britain 8:14.10 WR
  6 Alessia Filippi   Italy 8:20.23
  3 Lotte Friis   Denmark 8:23.03
4 5 Camelia Potec   Romania 8:23.11
5 1 Li Xuanxu   China 8:26.34
6 2 Kylie Palmer   Australia 8:26.39
7 7 Yelena Sokolova   Russia 8:29.79
8 8 Cassandra Patten   Great Britain 8:32.35

References

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  1. ^ "Olympic Swimming Schedule". USA Today. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  2. ^ a b Lohn, John (15 August 2008). "We Loved You While You Lasted Janet, Rebecca Adlington Erases Longest Standing World Record With Evans' Mark in 800 Free". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  3. ^ "Adlington storms to second gold". BBC Sport. 16 August 2008. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  4. ^ a b Lohn, John (14 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Rebecca Adlington Sets Olympic Record in 800 Free Prelims". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  5. ^ Dimond, Jeff (October 1989). "Swim and Deliver" (PDF). Swimming World and Junior Swimmer. 30 (10): 41–44. Retrieved 8 June 2008.[permanent dead link]
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