Swimming at the 1992 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre freestyle

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Men's 100-metre freestyle
at the Games of the XXV Olympiad
Alexander Popov 006.jpg
Alexander Popov
Venue Piscines Bernat Picornell
Date28 July 1992 (heats & finals)
Competitors75 from 52 nations
Winning time49.02
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Alexander Popov
Olympic flag.svg  Unified Team
Silver medal icon.svg Gustavo Borges
Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil
Bronze medal icon.svg Stéphan Caron
Flag of France.svg  France
  1988
1996  

The men's 100 metre freestyle event at the 1992 Summer Olympics took place on 28 July at the Piscines Bernat Picornell in Barcelona, Spain. [1] There were 75 competitors from 52 nations. [2] Nations had been limited to two swimmers each since the 1984 Games. The event was won by Alexander Popov of the Unified Team. Gustavo Borges's silver was Brazil's first medal in the men's 100 metre freestyle since 1960. Stéphan Caron of France repeated as bronze medalist, the eighth man to win multiple medals in the event. It was the first time since 1968 that the United States had competed and not won the event and the first time since 1956 that the Americans had competed and not taken any medal, as Jon Olsen finished fourth and defending champion Matt Biondi came in fifth.

Background

This was the 21st appearance of the men's 100 metre freestyle. The event has been held at every Summer Olympics except 1900 (when the shortest freestyle was the 200 metres), though the 1904 version was measured in yards rather than metres. [2]

Five of the eight finalists from the 1988 Games returned: gold medalist Matt Biondi of the United States, bronze medalist Stéphan Caron of France, fourth-place finisher Gennadiy Prigoda of the Soviet Union (now competing for the Unified Team), sixth-place finisher Andrew Baildon of Australia, and eighth-place finisher Tommy Werner of Sweden.

Biondi was the favorite, having also won the 1991 World Championship and his 1988 world record still standing. Caron and 1991 European Champion Alexander Popov were also contenders. [2]

Albania, Lithuania, the Maldives, Saudi Arabia, and the Seychelles each made their debut in the event; some former Soviet republics competed as the Unified Team and competitors from Yugoslavia competed as Independent Olympic Participants. The United States made its 20th appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.

Competition format

This freestyle swimming competition used the A/B final format instituted in 1984. The competition consisted of two rounds: heats and finals. The swimmers with the best 8 times in the semifinals advanced to the A final, competing for medals through 8th place. The swimmers with the next 8 times in the semifinals competed in the B final for 9th through 16th place. Swim-offs were used as necessary to determine advancement.

Records

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

World recordFlag of the United States.svg  Matt Biondi  (USA)48.42 Austin, United States 10 August 1988
Olympic recordFlag of the United States.svg  Matt Biondi  (USA)48.63 Seoul, South Korea 22 September 1988

No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition. Gustavo Borges set a new South American area record, and two national records were set: the Russian record by Alexander Popov and the Puerto Rican record by Ricardo Busquets.

Schedule

All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+2)

DateTimeRound
Tuesday, 28 July 199210:30
18:30
Heats
Finals

Results

Heats

Rule: The eight fastest swimmers advance to final A (Q), while the next eight to final B (q). [3]

RankHeatLaneSwimmerNationTimeNotes
1103 Alexander Popov Olympic flag.svg  Unified Team 49.29QA
2105 Gustavo Borges Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 49.49QA
384 Jon Olsen Flag of the United States.svg  United States 49.63QA
4104 Matt Biondi Flag of the United States.svg  United States 49.75QA
594 Stéphan Caron Flag of France.svg  France 49.82QA
686 Tommy Werner Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 50.00QA
102 Gennadiy Prigoda Olympic flag.svg  Unified Team QA
897 Christian Tröger Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 50.05QA
993 Raimundas Mažuolis Flag of Lithuania (1988-2004).svg  Lithuania 50.17QB
1083 Chris Fydler Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 50.26QB
1195 Nils Rudolph Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 50.29QB
1296 Christophe Kalfayan Flag of France.svg  France 50.30QB
1373 Ricardo Busquets Flag of Puerto Rico (1952-1995).svg  Puerto Rico 50.31QB
14101 John Steel Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 50.59QB
107 Andrew Baildon Flag of Australia.svg  Australia QB
1685 Giorgio Lamberti Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 50.65QB, WD
17106 Roberto Gleria Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 50.66QB
1882 Håkan Karlsson Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 50.73
88 Stephen Clarke Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
2081 Béla Szabados Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 50.78
2192 Mike Fibbens Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 50.93
2274 Rodrigo González Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 51.04
2361 Stéfan Voléry Civil Ensign of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland 51.05
24108 Paul Howe Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 51.12
2591 Emanuel Nascimento Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 51.17
2698 Franz Mortensen Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 51.29
2787 Uğur Taner Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey 51.34
2875 Jarl Inge Melberg Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 51.39
2976 Seddon Keyter South African Olympic Flag.svg  South Africa 51.42
3012 Mladen Kapor Olympic flag.svg  Independent Olympic Participants 51.44
3171 Yoav Bruck Flag of Israel.svg  Israel 51.46
3266 Indrek Sei Flag of Estonia.svg  Estonia 51.47
72 Yves Clausse Flag of Luxembourg.svg  Luxembourg
3478 Tsutomu Nakano Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 51.63
3565 Krzysztof Cwalina Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 51.70
3667 Nicholas Sanders Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 51.77
3762 Giovanni Linscheer Flag of Suriname.svg  Suriname 51.82
3857 Janne Blomqvist Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 51.86
3968 Michael Wright Flag of Hong Kong (1959-1997).svg  Hong Kong 51.88
4064 Xie Jun Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 51.94
4163 Darren Ward Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 52.05
4254 Arthur Li Kai Yien Flag of Hong Kong (1959-1997).svg  Hong Kong 52.22
4351 Allan Murray Flag of the Bahamas.svg  Bahamas 52.43
4452 Stavros Michaelides Flag of Cyprus (1960-2006).svg  Cyprus 52.54
4548 Shigeo Ogata Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 52.74
4655 Ivor Le Roux Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe 52.92
4746 Enrico Linscheer Flag of Suriname.svg  Suriname 52.94
4856 Marc Verbeeck Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 52.97
4953 Sebastián Lasave Flag of Argentina (1861-2010).svg  Argentina 53.07
5045 Geribryan Mewett Flag of Bermuda (1910-1999).svg  Bermuda 53.14
5134 Ian Steed Raynor Flag of Bermuda (1910-1999).svg  Bermuda 53.16
5244 Mohamed El-Azoul Flag of Egypt.svg  Egypt 53.31
5343 Nikos Paleokrassas Flag of Greece.svg  Greece 53.47
5435 Rhoderick McGown Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe 53.65
5558 Patrick Sagisi Flag of Guam.svg  Guam 53.90
5641 Kenneth Yeo Flag of Singapore.svg  Singapore 54.44
5733 Plutarco Castellanos Flag of Honduras (before 2022).svg  Honduras 54.66
5837 Gustavo Bucaro Flag of Guatemala.svg  Guatemala 54.74
5926 Adrian Romero Flag of Guam.svg  Guam 54.77
6036 Laurent Alfred Flag of the United States Virgin Islands.svg  Virgin Islands 54.89
6131 Helder Torres Flag of Guatemala.svg  Guatemala 55.38
6247 Frank Leskaj Flag of Albania (1992-2002).svg  Albania 55.50
6324 Émile Lahoud Flag of Lebanon.svg  Lebanon 55.51
6411 Mouhamed Diop Flag of Senegal.svg  Senegal 55.82
6523 Hussein Al-Sadiq Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg  Saudi Arabia 55.96
6622 Ahmad Faraj Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg  United Arab Emirates 56.05
6725 Ivan Roberts Flag of Seychelles (1977-1996).svg  Seychelles 56.15
6817 Bruno N'Diaye Flag of Senegal.svg  Senegal 56.39
6932 Jarrah Al-Asmawi Flag of Kuwait (3-2).svg  Kuwait 56.72
7021 Mohamed Bin Abid Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg  United Arab Emirates 56.82
7127 Carl Probert Flag of Fiji.svg  Fiji 57.25
7214 Kenny Roberts Flag of Seychelles (1977-1996).svg  Seychelles 58.86
7315 Foy Gordon Chung Flag of Fiji.svg  Fiji 1:03.96
7413 Ahmed Imthiyaz Flag of Maldives.svg  Maldives 1:04.96
7516 Mohamed Rasheed Flag of Maldives.svg  Maldives 1:08.12
42 Nayef Al-Hasawi Flag of Kuwait (3-2).svg  Kuwait DNS
77 Peter Williams South African Olympic Flag.svg  South Africa DNS

Finals

[4]

Final B

RankLaneSwimmerNationTimeNotes
92 Ricardo Busquets Flag of Puerto Rico (1952-1995).svg  Puerto Rico 49.92 NR
104 Raimundas Mažuolis Flag of Lithuania (1988-2004).svg  Lithuania 50.13
116 Christophe Kalfayan Flag of France.svg  France 50.49
123 Nils Rudolph Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 50.62
137 John Steel Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 50.69
145 Chris Fydler Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 50.78
158 Roberto Gleria Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 50.81
161 Andrew Baildon Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 50.93

Final A

Popov won, well ahead of everyone else. An equipment error resulted in the scoreboard initially displaying Caron as the second-place swimmer and Borges as last. Borges last was an obvious mistake to anyone watching; he had been fighting for second. His touchpad had malfunctioned. Officials reviewed film of "his" finish, assigning him a time of 49.53—equal to Biondi; they then realized that the film had been of Biondi. Looking at the correct finish, the officials gave Borges a time of 49.43, good for the silver medal. [2]

RankLaneSwimmerNationTimeNotes
Gold medal icon.svg4 Alexander Popov Olympic flag.svg  Unified Team 49.02 NR
Silver medal icon.svg5 Gustavo Borges Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 49.43 SA
Bronze medal icon.svg2 Stéphan Caron Flag of France.svg  France 49.50
43 Jon Olsen Flag of the United States.svg  United States 49.51
56 Matt Biondi Flag of the United States.svg  United States 49.53
61 Tommy Werner Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 49.63
78 Christian Tröger Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 49.84
87 Gennadiy Prigoda Olympic flag.svg  Unified Team 50.25

References

  1. "Swimming at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Games: Men's 100 metres Freestyle". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "100 metres Freestyle, Men". Olympedia. Archived from the original on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  3. "Barcelona 1992: Swimming – Men's 100m Freestyle Heats" (PDF). Barcelona 1992 . LA84 Foundation. p. 358. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 November 2018. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
  4. "Barcelona 1992: Swimming – Men's 100m Freestyle Finals" (PDF). Barcelona 1992 . LA84 Foundation. p. 358. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 November 2018. Retrieved 27 August 2017.