The women's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place on 10–11 August at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium.[1]
| Women's 200 metre breaststroke at the Games of the XXXI Olympiad | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Olympic Aquatics Stadium | ||||||||||||
| Dates | 10 August 2016 (heats & semifinals) 11 August 2016 (final) | ||||||||||||
| Competitors | 30 from 22 nations | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 2:20.30 | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Summary edit
Japan's Rie Kaneto pulled away from a tightly-packed field over a wide margin to become the country's third gold medalist in the event's history, since Hideko Maehata topped the podium in 1936, and Kyoko Iwasaki in 1992. She swam through the final lap to a decisive gold-medal triumph in 2:20.30, but fell short of her attempt to overhaul a sub-2:20 range at the Games.[2][3] Russia's Yuliya Yefimova launched a late charge on the home stretch to get her second silver of the meet in 2:21.97.[4] Meanwhile, China's Shi Jinglin rebounded from an out-of-medal feat in the 100 m breaststroke three days earlier to earn the bronze with a 2:22.28, beating Great Britain's Chloe Tutton (2:22.34) by just six hundredths of a second.[5][6]
Australia's Taylor McKeown seized a substantial lead through the initial half of the race, but slipped shortly off the podium to fifth in 2:22.43. Tutton's teammate Molly Renshaw, who scratched the existing British record earlier in the semifinals, picked up a sixth spot in 2:22.72.[7] Outside the 2:22 club, Canada's Kierra Smith (2:23.19) and Denmark's world-record holder Rikke Møller Pedersen (2:23.74) rounded out the field.[6]
Tandem Molly Hannis and Lilly King, the newly-crowned Olympic champion of the 100 m breaststroke, had put their medal hunt to an end in this event, as neither of them advanced to the final.[8] Other notable swimmers missed the top eight roster, featuring Japan's Kanako Watanabe, the 2015 world champion, and Turkey's Viktoriya Zeynep Güneş, the fastest pre-race seed headed to the Games.[9]
The medals for the competition were presented by Yumilka Ruiz, IOC member from Colombia, and the gifts were presented by Kazuo Sano, executive member of the FINA.
Records edit
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record |  Rikke Møller Pedersen (DEN) |
2:19.11 | Barcelona, Spain | 1 August 2013 | [10] |
| Olympic record |  Rebecca Soni (USA) |
2:19.59 | London, United Kingdom | 2 August 2012 | [11] |
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.[1]
Results edit
Heats edit
Semifinals edit
Semifinal 1 edit
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Rie Kaneto |  Japan |
2:22.11 | Q |
| 2 | 6 | Yuliya Yefimova |  Russia |
2:22.52 | Q |
| 3 | 5 | Chloe Tutton |  Great Britain |
2:22.71 | Q |
| 4 | 3 | Kierra Smith |  Canada |
2:22.87 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | Hrafnhildur Lúthersdóttir |  Iceland |
2:24.41 | |
| 6 | 1 | Jenna Laukkanen |  Finland |
2:25.14 | NR |
| 7 | 8 | Sofiya Andreeva | Russia |
2:25.90 | |
| 8 | 7 | Molly Hannis | United States |
2:26.80 |
Semifinal 2 edit
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Taylor McKeown |  Australia |
2:21.69 | Q |
| 2 | 3 | Molly Renshaw | Great Britain |
2:22.33 | Q, NR |
| 3 | 2 | Shi Jinglin |  China |
2:22.37 | Q |
| 4 | 4 | Rikke Møller Pedersen |  Denmark |
2:22.45 | Q |
| 5 | 6 | Viktoriya Zeynep Güneş |  Turkey |
2:23.49 | |
| 6 | 7 | Jessica Vall |  Spain |
2:24.22 | |
| 7 | 8 | Lilly King | United States |
2:24.59 | |
| 8 | 1 | Kanako Watanabe | Japan |
2:25.10 |
Final edit
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| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
5 | Rie Kaneto | Japan |
2:20.30 | |
 |
7 | Yuliya Yefimova | Russia |
2:21.97 | |
 |
6 | Shi Jinglin | China |
2:22.28 | |
| 4 | 1 | Chloe Tutton | Great Britain |
2:22.34 | |
| 5 | 4 | Taylor McKeown | Australia |
2:22.43 | |
| 6 | 3 | Molly Renshaw | Great Britain |
2:22.72 | |
| 7 | 8 | Kierra Smith | Canada |
2:23.19 | |
| 8 | 2 | Rikke Møller Pedersen | Denmark |
2:23.74 |
References edit
- ^ a b "Women's 200m Breaststroke". www.rio2016.com. Rio 2016. 10 August 2016. Archived from the original on 22 September 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
- ^ "Swimming: Efimova gets silver again as Kaneto wins women's 200 breaststroke". Reuters. 11 August 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
- ^ McKirdy, Andrew (12 August 2016). "Kaneto victorious in 200-meter breaststroke; Phelps beats Hagino for 22nd gold". The Japan Times. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
- ^ Johnson, Raphielle (11 August 2016). "Japan's Kaneto wins women's 200 breast, Efimova takes silver". NBC Olympics. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
- ^ "Japan's Kaneto wins 200m breaststroke gold, China's Shi Jinglin takes bronze". China Radio International. 12 August 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2016.[dead link]
- ^ a b "Rie Kaneto Powers To First In 200 Breast Final". Swimming World Magazine. 12 August 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
- ^ "Rio Olympics 2016: Chloe Tutton appears to question Yulia Efimova". BBC Sport. 12 August 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
- ^ "Lilly King, Molly Hannis do not advance to 200m breaststroke final". NBC Olympics. 10 August 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
- ^ "Taylor McKeown Tops 200 Breast Semi-Finals; USA Fails To Qualify For Finals". Swimming World Magazine. 10 August 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
- ^ "Pedersen sets 200 meters breaststroke world record". Reuters. 1 August 2013. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
- ^ Auerbach, Nicole (2 August 2012). "Rebecca Soni sets world record in winning gold". USA Today. Retrieved 10 July 2013.