The women's 100 metre breaststroke event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 29–30 July at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom.[1][2]
| Women's 100 metre breaststroke at the Games of the XXX Olympiad | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | London Aquatics Centre | ||||||||||||
| Date | July 29, 2012 (heats & semifinals) July 30, 2012 (final) | ||||||||||||
| Competitors | 46 from 36 nations | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 1:05.47 | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
At only 15 years of age, Rūta Meilutytė defeated a vastly more sophisticated field to become Lithuania's first ever gold medalist in swimming under its own banner. Dominating the race from the start, she pulled away from the field to an unexpected triumph in a sterling time of 1:05.47.[3][4] U.S. top favorite and reigning world champion Rebecca Soni held on a sprint challenge from the Lithuanian teen at the halfway turn, but ended up defending her silver instead from Beijing four years earlier in 1:05.55.[5] Meanwhile, Satomi Suzuki powered home with the bronze in 1:06.46, handing Japan its first ever medal in the event's history.[6][7]
Jamaica's Alia Atkinson raced on the outside lane after her swim-off triumph over Canada's Tera van Beilen in the semifinals, but narrowly missed the podium with a fourth-place time in 1:06.93.[8] Competing in her fourth Olympics as Australia's first ever swimmer, defending Olympic champion Leisel Jones finished fifth in a credible time of 1:06.96 to end her illustrious career with a full set of medals.[9]
U.S. swimmer Breeja Larson escaped from a "no false-start" rule to pull off a sixth-place finish in 1:06.96, as the issue of her pre-race jump came with a faulty starting system.[10][11] Russia's Yuliya Yefimova (1:06.98) and Denmark's Rikke Pedersen (1:07.55) rounded out the field.[7]
Records edit
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record |  Jessica Hardy (USA) |
1:04.45 | Federal Way, United States | 7 August 2009 | [12][13] |
| Olympic record |  Leisel Jones (AUS) |
1:05.17 | Beijing, China | 10 August 2008 | [14] |
Results edit
Heats edit
Semifinals edit
Semifinal 1 edit
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Rebecca Soni |  United States |
1:05.98 | Q |
| 2 | 5 | Breeja Larson | United States |
1:06.70 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | Satomi Suzuki |  Japan |
1:07.10 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | Alia Atkinson |  Jamaica |
1:07.48 | QSO |
| 8 | Tera van Beilen |  Canada |
QSO | ||
| 6 | 6 | Jennie Johansson |  Sweden |
1:07.57 | |
| 7 | 7 | Suzaan van Biljon |  South Africa |
1:07.68 | |
| 8 | 1 | Mina Matsushima | Japan |
1:08.26 |
Semifinal 2 edit
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Rūta Meilutytė |  Lithuania |
1:05.21 | Q, EU, NR |
| 2 | 5 | Yuliya Yefimova |  Russia |
1:06.57 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | Leisel Jones | Australia |
1:06.81 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | Rikke Pedersen |  Denmark |
1:06.82 | Q |
| 5 | 6 | Sarah Poewe |  Germany |
1:07.68 | |
| 6 | 7 | Leiston Pickett | Australia |
1:07.74 | |
| 7 | 8 | Jillian Tyler | Canada |
1:07.87 | |
| 8 | 1 | Zhao Jin |  China |
1:07.97 |
Semifinal swim-off edit
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Alia Atkinson | Jamaica |
1:06.79 | Q, NR |
| 2 | 4 | Tera van Beilen | Canada |
1:07.73 |
Final edit
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
4 | Rūta Meilutytė | Lithuania |
1:05.47 | |
 |
5 | Rebecca Soni | United States |
1:05.55 | |
 |
1 | Satomi Suzuki | Japan |
1:06.46 | |
| 4 | 8 | Alia Atkinson | Jamaica |
1:06.93 | |
| 5 | 2 | Leisel Jones | Australia |
1:06.95 | |
| 6 | 6 | Breeja Larson | United States |
1:06.96 | * |
| 7 | 3 | Yuliya Yefimova | Russia |
1:06.98 | |
| 8 | 7 | Rikke Pedersen | Denmark |
1:07.55 |
* False start, but she was not disqualified due to technical error.
References edit
- ^ "Swimming: Results & Schedules". London 2012. NBC Olympics. 29 July 2012. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
- ^ "100 meters Breaststroke, Women". Olympedia. Archived from the original on 25 November 2023. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
- ^ White, Duncan (30 July 2012). "London 2012 Olympics: 15-year-old Plymouth schoolgirl Ruta Meilutyte takes shock 100m breaststroke gold". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
- ^ Walker, Peter (30 July 2012). "Ruta Meilutyte grabs a gold for Lithuania". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
- ^ "Ruta Meilutyte wins 100m breast". ESPN. 30 July 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
- ^ Kano, Shintaro (31 July 2012). "Irie, Terakawa, Suzuki haul in bronze from the pool". The Japan Times. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
- ^ a b "2012 London Olympics: Ruta Meilutyte Earns Lithuania's First Gold Medal Under Its Flag With 100 Breast Win; Rebecca Soni Places Just Behind in Second". Swimming World Magazine. 30 July 2012. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
- ^ "2012 London Olympics: Lithuania's Ruta Meilutyte Sets European Record to Top 100 Breast Semis; Soni and Larson Advance". Swimming World Magazine. 29 July 2012. Archived from the original on 2013-01-28. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
- ^ "Jones misses medals in 'changing of the guard'". ABC News Australia. 31 July 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
- ^ Williams, Charean (30 July 2012). "Texas A&M swimmer Breeja Larson derailed after jumping gun before start". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
- ^ Scott-Elliott, Robin (30 July 2012). "Plymouth's Ruta Meilutyte wins shock gold (but it's not for Great Britain)". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-26. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
- ^ "Jessica Hardy wins her third medal at U.S. Open". USA Today. 8 August 2009. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
- ^ "Hardy claims third medal in 50 free". ESPN. 8 August 2009. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
- ^ "Leisel's Olympic redemption with elusive gold". ABC News. 12 August 2008. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
- ^ "Women's 100m Breaststroke – Heats". London2012.com. LOCOG. Archived from the original on 4 December 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012.