The men's 50 metre freestyle event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 2–3 August at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom.[1]
| Men's 50 metre freestyle at the Games of the XXX Olympiad | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 London Aquatics Centre (2012) | |||||||||||||
| Venue | London Aquatics Centre | ||||||||||||
| Dates | August 2, 2012 (heats & semifinals) August 3, 2012 (final) | ||||||||||||
| Competitors | 58 from 51 nations | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 21.34 | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
France's Florent Manaudou stunned the entire field to join his sister Laure Manaudou on top of the podium for the Olympic sprint freestyle title. Swimming in lane seven, the dark horse threw down a scorching time and a textile best of 21.34 to hold off U.S. swimmer Cullen Jones and the event's Brazilian world record holder and defending Olympic champion César Cielo by two-tenths of a second, a sizable chunk in the Olympic swimming's shortest race.[2][3] Jones took home the silver in 21.54 to match his semifinal time in the process, while Cielo missed his chance to defend the title with a bronze medal in 21.59.[4][5][6]
Cielo's teammate Bruno Fratus finished outside the podium by almost a fingertip with a fourth-place time in 21.61. After twelve years of absence as a 31-year-old, U.S. swimmer Anthony Ervin, who previously tied with Gary Hall, Jr. for the gold in 2000, managed to pull off a fifth-place finish in 21.78.[7] Ervin was followed in sixth and seventh by four-time Olympians Roland Mark Schoeman of South Africa (21.80) and George Bovell of Trinidad and Tobago (21.82).[8][9] Plagued by injury, Australia's Eamon Sullivan struggled to mount a sprint challenge in a high-calibre race as he finished eighth in 21.98.[6][10]
Earlier in the semifinals, Australia's top sprinter James Magnussen missed the star-studded roster with an eleventh-place time in 22.00.[11][12] Other notable swimmers featured Swedish veteran Stefan Nystrand (22.32) and France's Amaury Leveaux (22.35), the defending silver medalist, both of whom fell short of the semifinal field by a small fraction of a second on the morning prelims.[13]
Records edit
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record |  César Cielo (BRA) |
20.91 | São Paulo, Brazil | 18 December 2009 | [14][15] |
| Olympic record | César Cielo (BRA) |
21.30 | Beijing, China | 16 August 2008 | [16] |
Qualification edit
The Olympic Qualifying Time for the event was 22.11 seconds. Up to two swimmers per National Olympic Committee (NOC) could automatically qualify by swimming that time at an approved qualification event. The Olympic Selection Time was 22.88 seconds. Up to one swimmer per NOC meeting that time was eligible for selection, allocated by world ranking until the maximum quota for all swimming events was reached. NOCs without a male swimmer qualified in any event could also use their universality place.[17]
Competition format edit
The competition consists of three rounds: heats, semifinals, and a final. The swimmers with the best 16 times in the heats advance to the semifinals. The swimmers with the best 8 times in the semifinals advance to the final. Swim-offs are used as necessary to break ties for advancement to the next round.
Results edit
Heats edit
The swimmers with the top 16 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the semifinals.[18]
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 | 3 | Cullen Jones |  United States |
21.54 | Q |
| 1 | 4 | César Cielo | Brazil |
Q | ||
| 3 | 1 | 5 | Anthony Ervin | United States |
21.62 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | 5 | Bruno Fratus | Brazil |
21.63 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | 4 | George Bovell |  Trinidad and Tobago |
21.77 | Q |
| 6 | 2 | 2 | Florent Manaudou |  France |
21.80 | Q |
| 7 | 1 | 8 | Eamon Sullivan |  Australia |
21.88 | Q |
| 8 | 2 | 3 | Roland Schoeman |  South Africa |
21.88 | Q |
| 9 | 1 | 7 | Gideon Louw | South Africa |
21.92 | |
| 10 | 2 | 6 | Andrey Grechin |  Russia |
21.98 | |
| 11 | 1 | 2 | James Magnussen | Australia |
22.00 | |
| 12 | 1 | 1 | Krisztián Takács |  Hungary |
22.01 | |
| 13 | 2 | 7 | Luca Dotto |  Italy |
22.09 | |
| 14 | 1 | 6 | Andriy Govorov |  Ukraine |
22.12 | |
| 15 | 2 | 1 | Brent Hayden |  Canada |
22.12 | |
| 16 | 2 | 8 | Norbert Trandafir |  Romania |
22.30 |
Final edit
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
7 | Florent Manaudou | France |
21.34 | |
 |
5 | Cullen Jones | United States |
21.54 | |
 |
4 | César Cielo | Brazil |
21.59 | |
| 4 | 6 | Bruno Fratus | Brazil |
21.61 | |
| 5 | 3 | Anthony Ervin | United States |
21.78 | |
| 6 | 8 | Roland Mark Schoeman | South Africa |
21.80 | |
| 7 | 2 | George Bovell | Trinidad and Tobago |
21.82 | |
| 8 | 1 | Eamon Sullivan | Australia |
21.98 |
References edit
- ^ "Swimming: Results & Schedules". London 2012. NBC Olympics. 29 July 2012. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
- ^ "French swimmer Manaudou follows sister's lead by taking gold". France24. 3 August 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ^ "Olympics swimming: Florent Manaudou wins shock gold". BBC Sport. 3 August 2012. Archived from the original on 6 August 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ^ Brady, Erik (4 August 2012). "USA's Cullen Jones gets oh so close to Olympic dream". USA Today. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ^ "Cullen Jones claims silver in men's 50 freestyle". Boston Globe. 3 August 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ^ a b "2012 London Olympics: Unheralded Florent Manaudou Shocks Field With 50 Free Victory; Cullen Jones, Cesar Cielo Complete Podium; Anthony Ervin Fifth". Swimming World Magazine. 3 August 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ^ Ostler, Scott (4 August 2012). "Anthony Ervin finds redemption in pool". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ^ "Heartbreak for Schoeman". Sport24. 3 August 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ^ "Bovell considers retirement". Guardian Media Limited. 3 August 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ^ "Sullivan reveals injury". The Australian. 4 August 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ^ "2012 London Olympics: Cesar Cielo, Cullen Jones Deadheat for 50 Free Top Seed; Anthony Ervin Qualifies Third". Swimming World Magazine. 2 August 2012. Archived from the original on 2013-11-05. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ^ "Missile bows out of 50 free, Sullivan advances". ABC News Australia. 4 August 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ^ "2012 London Olympics: George Bovell Posts Olympic Textile Best to Lead 50 Free Qualifying; Cesar Cielo, Anthony Ervin, Cullen Jones Among Semifinalists". Swimming World Magazine. 2 August 2012. Archived from the original on 2013-01-28. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ^ "Brazil's Cesar Cielo breaks 50m freestyle world record". France24. 18 December 2009. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ^ "Brazil Long Course Championships: Cesar Cielo Sets World Record". Swimming World Magazine. 18 December 2009. Archived from the original on 23 February 2013. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
- ^ "'Big Cesar' races to first Brazilian swim gold". ESPN. 16 August 2008. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- ^ "Qualifying Standards" (PDF). FINA. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
- ^ "Men's 50m Freestyle – Heats". London2012.com. LOCOG. Archived from the original on 10 December 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012.