The men's 50 metre freestyle event at the 2004 Summer Olympics was contested at the Olympic Aquatic Centre of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex in Athens, Greece on August 19 and 20.[1]
| Men's 50 metre freestyle at the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre | ||||||||||||
| Dates | August 19, 2004 (heats & semifinals) August 20, 2004 (final) | ||||||||||||
| Competitors | 86 from 78 nations | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 21.93 | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
United States' Gary Hall Jr. defended his Olympic title in the event in 21.93, just two hundredths of a second off the record set by Alexander Popov in 1992.[2] The silver medal was awarded to Croatia's Duje Draganja, who placed behind Hall in 21.94. South Africa's Roland Mark Schoeman completed his full set of medals by adding a bronze in 22.02.[3]
Defending bronze medalist Pieter van den Hoogenband of the Netherlands (22.56), and dual Olympic champion Alexander Popov of Russia (22.58) missed the semifinals.[4] By the following year, Popov announced his retirement from swimming, and became a full-time member of the International Olympic Committee.
Eleven first round heats were raced, comprising a total of 86 swimmers. The fastest 16 swimmers from this group qualified to move on to the semifinals stage.[5] After the heats had been raced, the cut-off time was 22.53 seconds. The 16 swimmers who advanced then raced in two semifinals of eight swimmers each, the results being pooled and the fastest eight swimmers advancing to the final.[5] The cut-off time to proceed into the final was 22.19 seconds.
Records edit
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record |  Alexander Popov (RUS) |
21.64 | Moscow, Russia | 16 June 2000 | [6] |
| Olympic record |  Alexander Popov (EUN) |
21.91 | Barcelona, Spain | 30 July 1992 | [7] |
Competition format edit
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 edit
The swimmers with the top 16 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the semifinals.
Heats edit
Semifinals edit
The swimmers with the top 8 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the final.
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Name | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 6 | Roland Mark Schoeman |  South Africa |
21.99 | Q, AF |
| 2 | 1 | 2 | Brett Hawke |  Australia |
22.07 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | 6 | Jason Lezak |  United States |
22.12 | Q |
| 4 | 1 | 5 | Salim Iles |  Algeria |
22.16 | Q, NR |
| 5 | 2 | 2 | Gary Hall Jr. | United States |
22.18 | Q |
| 2 | 4 | Stefan Nystrand |  Sweden |
Q | ||
| 2 | 7 | Oleksandr Volynets |  Ukraine |
Q | ||
| 8 | 2 | 3 | Duje Draganja |  Croatia |
22.19 | Q |
| 9 | 2 | 5 | Bartosz Kizierowski |  Poland |
22.22 | |
| 10 | 1 | 3 | Julien Sicot |  France |
22.26 | |
| 11 | 2 | 8 | Fernando Scherer |  Brazil |
22.27 | |
| 12 | 1 | 4 | Frédérick Bousquet | France |
22.29 | |
| 13 | 1 | 1 | Javier Noriega |  Spain |
22.36 | |
| 14 | 1 | 8 | Lyndon Ferns | South Africa |
22.46 | |
| 15 | 1 | 7 | Ricardo Busquets |  Puerto Rico |
22.52 | |
| 16 | 2 | 1 | Karel Novy |  Switzerland |
22.63 |
Final edit
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
2 | Gary Hall Jr. | United States |
21.93 | |
 |
8 | Duje Draganja | Croatia |
21.94 | |
 |
4 | Roland Mark Schoeman | South Africa |
22.02 | |
| 4 | 1 | Stefan Nystrand | Sweden |
22.08 | |
| 5 | 3 | Jason Lezak | United States |
22.11 | |
| 6 | 5 | Brett Hawke | Australia |
22.18 | |
| 7 | 7 | Oleksandr Volynets | Ukraine |
22.26 | |
| 8 | 6 | Salim Iles | Algeria |
22.37 |
References edit
- ^ "Swimming schedule". BBC Sport. 5 August 2004. Retrieved 17 June 2007.
- ^ Harris, Beth (21 August 2004). "Defiant Hall wins 50m free". Associated Press. Washington Times. Retrieved 17 June 2007.
- ^ Thomas, Stephen (20 August 2004). "Hall Does it Again, Repeats as 50 Free Champ". Swimming World Magazine. Retrieved 19 April 2013.
- ^ Thomas, Stephen (19 August 2004). "Men's 50 Freestyle Prelims Day 6: Hall Splashes a Hot 22.04, Fastest Qualifier; Lezak Makes This One but Popov, Hoogie Bow Out". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 19 April 2013.
- ^ a b "Beginner's guide to swimming". BBC Sport. 15 April 2004. Retrieved 17 June 2007.
- ^ "Swimming – Current World Records – Men" (PDF). International Olympic Committee. 4 April 2007. Retrieved 17 June 2007.
- ^ "Swimming—Current Olympic Records—Men" (PDF). International Olympic Committee. 21 August 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 June 2007. Retrieved 17 June 2007.