Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metre backstroke

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Women's 200 metre backstroke
at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad
Venue Beijing National Aquatics Center
DateAugust 14, 2008 (heats)
August 15, 2008 (semifinals)
August 16, 2008 (final)
Competitors35 from 24 nations
Winning time2:05.24 WR
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Kirsty Coventry Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe
Silver medal icon.svg Margaret Hoelzer Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Bronze medal icon.svg Reiko Nakamura Flag of Japan.svg  Japan
  2004
2012  

The women's 200 metre backstroke event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 14–16 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China. [1]

After claiming three silver medals at these Games, Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry stormed home on the final lap to defend her Olympic title in the event. She posted a time of 2:05.24 to crush a world record set by U.S. swimmer Margaret Hoelzer from the Olympic trials one month earlier. [2] Meanwhile, Hoelzer added a silver to her hardware from the 100 m backstroke, when she touched the wall in 2:06.23, the second-fastest effort of her career. [3] [4] Japan's Reiko Nakamura managed to repeat a bronze from Athens four years earlier, in an Asian record of 2:07.13. [5]

Russia's top favorite Anastasia Zuyeva finished fourth with a time of 2:07.88, and was followed in the fifth spot by American teenager Elizabeth Beisel, aged 16, in 2:08.23. Elizabeth Simmonds set a new British record of 2:08.51 to earn a sixth spot, while Aussies Meagan Nay (2:08.84) and Belinda Hocking (2:10.12) closed out the field. [5] [6] Notable swimmers missed out the top 8 final, featuring Russia's Stanislava Komarova, silver medalist in Athens, and British top favorite Gemma Spofforth. [5]

Before her breakthrough final, Coventry broke one of the oldest Olympic records earlier in the prelims. She posted a top-seeded time of 2:06.76 to lead 34 other swimmers in the race, slashing four-tenths of a second (0.40) off the record set by Hungary's three-time Olympic champion Krisztina Egerszegi from Barcelona in 1992. [7] [8]

Records

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

World recordFlag of the United States.svg  Margaret Hoelzer  (USA)2:06.09 Omaha, United States 5 July 2008 [9]
Olympic recordFlag of Hungary.svg  Krisztina Egerszegi  (HUN)2:07.06 Barcelona, Spain 31 July 1992-

The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.

DateEventNameNationalityTimeRecord
August 14Heat 4 Kirsty Coventry Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe 2:06.76 OR
August 16Final Kirsty Coventry Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe 2:05.24 WR

Results

Heats

RankHeatLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
144 Kirsty Coventry Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe 2:06.76Q, OR
256 Elizabeth Simmonds Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 2:08.66Q, NR
343 Meagen Nay Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 2:08.79Q
435 Zhao Jing Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 2:08.97Q
533 Anastasia Zuyeva Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 2:09.01Q
655 Elizabeth Beisel Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:09.02Q
754 Margaret Hoelzer Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:09.12Q
842 Melissa Ingram Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 2:09.34Q
945 Alexianne Castel Flag of France.svg  France 2:09.37Q
1034 Laure Manaudou Flag of France.svg  France 2:09.39Q
1136 Belinda Hocking Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 2:09.54Q
1253 Reiko Nakamura Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 2:09.77Q
1357 Stanislava Komarova Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 2:09.93Q
1446 Hanae Ito Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 2:10.05Q
1531 Anja Čarman Civil Ensign of Slovenia.svg  Slovenia 2:10.49Q, NR
1632 Gemma Spofforth Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 2:10.58Q
1737 Evelyn Verrasztó Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 2:11.02
1852 Nikolett Szepesi Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 2:11.47
1948 Chen Yanyan Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 2:11.95
2027 Melanie Nocher Flag of Ireland (3-2).svg  Ireland 2:12.29 NR
2126 Zuzanna Mazurek Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 2:12.46 NR
2247 Melissa Corfe Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa 2:12.64
58 Kateryna Zubkova Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine
2451 Escarlata Bernard Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 2:12.86
2524 Lydia Morant Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 2:13.87
2613 Kang Yeong-seo Flag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg  South Korea 2:14.52
2715 Gisela Morales Flag of Guatemala.svg  Guatemala 2:14.54
2828 Fernanda González Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 2:14.64
2921 Stella Boumi Flag of Greece.svg  Greece 2:14.73
3038 Lindsay Seemann Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 2:15.07
3123 Sanja Jovanović Civil ensign of Croatia.svg  Croatia 2:15.57
3214 Erin Volcán Flag of Venezuela.svg  Venezuela 2:15.58
3341 Iryna Amshennikova Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine 2:15.78
3425 Christin Zenner Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 2:20.28
22 Julia Wilkinson Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada DNS

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

RankLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
13 Elizabeth Beisel Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:07.90Q
27 Reiko Nakamura Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 2:08.21Q, NR
34 Elizabeth Simmonds Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 2:08.96Q
48 Gemma Spofforth Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 2:09.19
55 Zhao Jing Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 2:09.59
66 Melissa Ingram Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 2:09.70
71 Hanae Ito Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 2:09.86
82 Laure Manaudou Flag of France.svg  France 2:12.04

Semifinal 2

RankLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
14 Kirsty Coventry Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe 2:07.76Q
25 Meagen Nay Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 2:08.09Q, OC
36 Margaret Hoelzer Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:08.25Q
47 Belinda Hocking Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 2:08.80Q
53 Anastasia Zuyeva Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 2:09.07Q
62 Alexianne Castel Flag of France.svg  France 2:10.04
71 Stanislava Komarova Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 2:10.50
88 Anja Čarman Civil Ensign of Slovenia.svg  Slovenia 2:12.46

Final

RankLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
Gold medal icon.svg4 Kirsty Coventry Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe 2:05.24 WR
Silver medal icon.svg2 Margaret Hoelzer Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:06.23
Bronze medal icon.svg6 Reiko Nakamura Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 2:07.13 AS
48 Anastasia Zuyeva Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 2:07.88
55 Elizabeth Beisel Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:08.23
61 Elizabeth Simmonds Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 2:08.51 NR
73 Meagen Nay Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 2:08.84
87 Belinda Hocking Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 2:10.12

References

  1. "Olympic Swimming Schedule". USA Today. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  2. Evans, Simon (15 August 2008). "Coventry's silver mine seeded with gold". Reuters . Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  3. "Margaret Hoelzer gets Olympic silver in 200 backstroke". Team USA. 15 August 2008. Archived from the original on June 18, 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  4. Kelley, Steve (16 August 2008). "Margaret Hoelzer wins silver in backstroke". The Seattle Times . Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 Lohn, John (15 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Kirsty Coventry Wins 200 Back in World Record Fashion". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 23 June 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  6. Paxinos, Stathi (16 August 2008). "Coventry wins backstroke gold". Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  7. Lohn, John (14 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Kirsty Coventry Dominates 200 Back Prelims, Sets Olympic Record". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  8. Harris, Beth (16 August 2008). "Americans Hoff, Ziegler fail in 800 free heats". USA Today . Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  9. Borzi, Pat (6 July 2008). "As records change by the minute, the women's 800 stays standing". The New York Times . Retrieved 6 June 2008.