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

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Women's 200 metre breaststroke
at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad
Venue Beijing National Aquatics Center
DateAugust 13, 2008 (heats)
August 14, 2008 (semifinals)
August 15, 2008 (final)
Competitors41 from 34 nations
Winning time2:20.22 WR
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Rebecca Soni Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Silver medal icon.svg Leisel Jones Flag of Australia.svg  Australia
Bronze medal icon.svg Sara Nordenstam Flag of Norway.svg  Norway
  2004
2012  

The women's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 13–15 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China. [1]

U.S. swimmer Rebecca Soni pulled away over the final lap to capture gold and set a new world record of 2:20.22. [2] [3] Australia's world record holder and top favorite Leisel Jones enjoyed a strong lead in the first 100 metres, but ended up only with a silver in 2:22.05, almost two seconds behind Soni. [4] Meanwhile, Sara Nordenstam earned Norway's second Olympic medal in swimming, as she powered home with a bronze in a European record of 2:23.02. [5]

Austria's Mirna Jukić finished outside the medals in fourth place at 2:23.24, while Russia's Yuliya Yefimova set a national record of 2:23.76 to hold off Canada's Annamay Pierse (2:23.77) for a fifth spot by a hundredth of a second (0.01). [6] Japanese duo Rie Kaneto (2:25.14) and Megumi Taneda (2:25.23) closed out the field. [5]

Notable swimmers failed to reach the top 8 final, featuring Germany's Anne Poleska, bronze medalist in Athens four years earlier. Competing at her fourth Olympics, defending champion Amanda Beard placed eighteenth in 2:27.70, but missed the semifinals by 0.42 seconds. [7] [8]

Earlier in the prelims, Soni posted a top-seeded time of 2:22.17 to lead the heats, cutting off Beard's Olympic record by exactly two-tenths of a second (0.20). [7]

Records

Leisel Jones, the world record holder and favourite for the 200 m breaststroke. 2008 Australian Olympic team Leisel Jones - Sarah Ewart.jpg
Leisel Jones, the world record holder and favourite for the 200 m breaststroke.

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

World recordFlag of Australia (converted).svg  Leisel Jones  (AUS)2:20.54 Melbourne, Australia 1 February 2006 [9]
Olympic recordFlag of the United States.svg  Amanda Beard  (USA)2:23.37 Athens, Greece 19 August 2004-

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

DateEventNameNationalityTimeRecord
August 13Heat 5 Rebecca Soni Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:22.17 OR
August 15Final Rebecca Soni Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:20.22 WR

Results

Heats

RankHeatLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
154 Rebecca Soni Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:22.17Q, OR
264 Leisel Jones Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 2:23.81Q
365 Mirna Jukić Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 2:24.39Q
461 Sara Nordenstam Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 2:24.47Q
546 Rie Kaneto Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 2:24.62Q
655 Megumi Taneda Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 2:24.75Q
745 Annamay Pierse Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 2:25.01Q
844 Yuliya Yefimova Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 2:25.07Q
957 Suzaan van Biljon Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa 2:25.51Q
1053 Sally Foster Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 2:25.54Q
1163 Jung Seul-ki Flag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg  South Korea 2:25.95Q
1266 Joline Höstman Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 2:26.00Q
1362 Qi Hui Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 2:26.16Q
1452 Anne Poleska Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 2:26.74Q
1548 Elise Matthysen Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 2:27.04Q
1641 Jeong Da-rae Flag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg  South Korea 2:27.28Q
1737 Inna Kapishina Flag of Belarus (1995-2012).svg  Belarus 2:27.34 NR
1843 Amanda Beard Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:27.70
1922 Siow Yi Ting Flag of Malaysia.svg  Malaysia 2:27.80
2042 Olga Detenyuk Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 2:27.87
51 Kirsty Balfour Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain
2234 Adriana Marmolejo Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 2:28.10 NR
2368 Yuliya Pidlisna Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine 2:28.84
2447 Mireia Belmonte García Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 2:29.46
2524 Alia Atkinson Flag of Jamaica.svg  Jamaica 2:29.53
2667 Luo Nan Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 2:29.67
2731 Katalin Bor Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 2:29.95
2832 Sara El Bekri Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco 2:30.04
2933 Diana Gomes Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal 2:30.18
3058 Sophie de Ronchi Flag of France.svg  France 2:30.93
3127 Marina Kuč Flag of Montenegro.svg  Montenegro 2:31.24 NR
3223 Dilara Buse Günaydin Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey 2:31.86
3336 Nađa Higl Flag of Serbia (2004-2010).svg  Serbia 2:32.78
3426 Smiljana Marinović Civil ensign of Croatia.svg  Croatia 2:32.80
3515 Raminta Dvariškytė Flag of Lithuania.svg  Lithuania 2:33.32
3625 Nicolette Teo Flag of Singapore.svg  Singapore 2:34.60
3738 Agustina de Giovanni Flag of Argentina (1861-2010).svg  Argentina 2:34.94
3835 Angeliki Exarchou Flag of Greece.svg  Greece 2:36.83
3913 Noora Laukkanen Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 2:38.97
4014 Tatiane Sakemi Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 2:39.13
56 Sarah Poewe Flag of Germany.svg  Germany DNS

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

RankLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
14 Leisel Jones Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 2:23.04Q
25 Sara Nordenstam Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 2:23.79Q, EU
36 Yuliya Yefimova Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 2:24.00Q
43 Megumi Taneda Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 2:25.42Q
52 Sally Foster Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 2:26.33
61 Anne Poleska Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 2:26.71
77 Joline Höstman Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 2:27.14
88 Jeong Da-rae Flag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg  South Korea 2:28.28

Semifinal 2

RankLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
14 Rebecca Soni Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:22.64Q
25 Mirna Jukić Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 2:23.76Q, EU
36 Annamay Pierse Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 2:23.94Q
43 Rie Kaneto Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 2:25.65Q
57 Jung Seul-ki Flag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg  South Korea 2:26.83
61 Qi Hui Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 2:27.63
72 Suzaan van Biljon Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa 2:28.45
88 Elise Matthysen Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 2:29.64

Final

RankLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
Gold medal icon.svg4 Rebecca Soni Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:20.22 WR
Silver medal icon.svg5 Leisel Jones Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 2:22.05
Bronze medal icon.svg6 Sara Nordenstam Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 2:23.02 EU
43 Mirna Jukić Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 2:23.24 NR
57 Yuliya Yefimova Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 2:23.76 NR
62 Annamay Pierse Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 2:23.77 NR
71 Rie Kaneto Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 2:25.14
88 Megumi Taneda Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 2:25.23

References

  1. "Olympic Swimming Schedule". USA Today. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  2. Majendie, Paul (15 August 2008). "Soni goes from heart surgery to gold medal". Reuters . Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  3. "Rebecca Soni breaks 200m breaststroke record". France 24. 15 August 2008. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  4. Breen, Neil (15 August 2008). "Leisel Jones collapses after silver in 200m breaststroke final at Beijing Olympics". Herald Sun . Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  5. 1 2 Lohn, John (14 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Rebecca Soni Upsets Leisel Jones With 200 Breast World Record". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  6. "Swimmer Phelps wins a sixth gold medal at Beijing". CTV News. 15 August 2008. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  7. 1 2 Lohn, John (13 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Rebecca Soni Sets Olympic, American Record to Lead 200 Breast Qualifying". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 23 June 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  8. Pierce, Tony (13 August 2008). "Was Amanda Beard sick, distracted, or just too old to compete in Beijing?". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  9. Cowley, Michael (2 February 2006). "Lethal again: Jones beats own record". The Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 6 August 2008.