Women's 200 metre breaststroke at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad | |||||||||||||
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Venue | Beijing National Aquatics Center | ||||||||||||
Date | August 13, 2008 (heats) August 14, 2008 (semifinals) August 15, 2008 (final) | ||||||||||||
Competitors | 41 from 34 nations | ||||||||||||
Winning time | 2:20.22 WR | ||||||||||||
Medalists | |||||||||||||
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Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics | ||
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![]() | ||
Qualification | ||
Freestyle | ||
50 m | men | women |
100 m | men | women |
200 m | men | women |
400 m | men | women |
800 m | women | |
1500 m | men | |
Backstroke | ||
100 m | men | women |
200 m | men | women |
Breaststroke | ||
100 m | men | women |
200 m | men | women |
Butterfly | ||
100 m | men | women |
200 m | men | women |
Individual medley | ||
200 m | men | women |
400 m | men | women |
Freestyle relay | ||
4 × 100 m | men | women |
4 × 200 m | men | women |
Medley relay | ||
4 × 100 m | men | women |
Marathon | ||
10 km | men | women |
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]
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
World record | ![]() | 2:20.54 | Melbourne, Australia | 1 February 2006 | [9] |
Olympic record | ![]() | 2:23.37 | Athens, Greece | 19 August 2004 | - |
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
August 13 | Heat 5 | Rebecca Soni | ![]() | 2:22.17 | OR |
August 15 | Final | Rebecca Soni | ![]() | 2:20.22 | WR |
Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 4 | Leisel Jones | ![]() | 2:23.04 | Q |
2 | 5 | Sara Nordenstam | ![]() | 2:23.79 | Q, EU |
3 | 6 | Yuliya Yefimova | ![]() | 2:24.00 | Q |
4 | 3 | Megumi Taneda | ![]() | 2:25.42 | Q |
5 | 2 | Sally Foster | ![]() | 2:26.33 | |
6 | 1 | Anne Poleska | ![]() | 2:26.71 | |
7 | 7 | Joline Höstman | ![]() | 2:27.14 | |
8 | 8 | Jeong Da-rae | ![]() | 2:28.28 |
Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 4 | Rebecca Soni | ![]() | 2:22.64 | Q |
2 | 5 | Mirna Jukić | ![]() | 2:23.76 | Q, EU |
3 | 6 | Annamay Pierse | ![]() | 2:23.94 | Q |
4 | 3 | Rie Kaneto | ![]() | 2:25.65 | Q |
5 | 7 | Jung Seul-ki | ![]() | 2:26.83 | |
6 | 1 | Qi Hui | ![]() | 2:27.63 | |
7 | 2 | Suzaan van Biljon | ![]() | 2:28.45 | |
8 | 8 | Elise Matthysen | ![]() | 2:29.64 |
Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | 4 | Rebecca Soni | ![]() | 2:20.22 | WR |
![]() | 5 | Leisel Jones | ![]() | 2:22.05 | |
![]() | 6 | Sara Nordenstam | ![]() | 2:23.02 | EU |
4 | 3 | Mirna Jukić | ![]() | 2:23.24 | NR |
5 | 7 | Yuliya Yefimova | ![]() | 2:23.76 | NR |
6 | 2 | Annamay Pierse | ![]() | 2:23.77 | NR |
7 | 1 | Rie Kaneto | ![]() | 2:25.14 | |
8 | 8 | Megumi Taneda | ![]() | 2:25.23 |
The women's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 2004 Olympic Games was contested at the Olympic Aquatic Centre of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex in Athens, Greece on August 18 and 19.
Leisel Marie Jones, OAM is an Australian former competition swimmer and Olympic gold medallist. A participant in the 2000 Summer Olympics – at just 15 years old – and 2004 Summer Olympics, she was part of gold-medal-winning Australian team in the women's 4×100-metre medley relay at the Athens Games in 2004 and a gold medallist for 100-metre breaststroke in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
QI Hui is an Olympic and former world record holding breaststroke swimmer from China.
Annamay Pierse is a former competitive swimmer who represented Canada in major international swimming championships including the Summer Olympics, FINA World Championships, Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacific Championships.
Yuliya Andreyevna Yefimova is a Russian competitive swimmer. She is the Russian record holder in the 200 metre individual medley, 50 metre breaststroke, 100 metre breaststroke, and 200 metre breaststroke. After making her Olympic debut in 2008, she went on to win the bronze medal in the 200 metre breaststroke in 2012, and silver medals in the 100 metre and 200 metre breaststroke in 2016. She is a six-time World Champion, winning the 50 metre breaststroke in 2009 and 2013, the 100 metre breaststroke in 2015, and the 200 metre breaststroke in 2013, 2017, and 2019. In 2019, she became the first woman to win the 200 metre breaststroke at a FINA World Aquatics Championships three times. She is a former world record holder in the long course 50 metre breaststroke. She has won 109 medals, including 48 gold medals, at Swimming World Cups.
The first world record in the men's 200 metres breaststroke in long course (50 metres) swimming was recognised by the International Swimming Federation (FINA) in 1908 and the first world record in the women's 200 metres breaststroke was recognised in 1921. In the short course (25 metres) swimming events the world's governing body recognizes world records since March 3, 1991.
Rebecca Soni is an American former competition swimmer and breaststroke specialist who is a six-time Olympic medalist. She is a former world record-holder in the 100-meter breaststroke and the 200-meter breaststroke, and is the first woman to swim the 200-meter breaststroke in under 2 minutes 20 seconds. As a member of the U.S. national team, she held the world record in the 4×100-meter medley relay from 2012 to 2017.
The men's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 12–14 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.
The women's 100 metre breaststroke event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 10–12 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.
Giedrius Titenis is a Lithuanian swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events. He is a four-time Olympian, a multiple-time Lithuanian record holder in the men's breaststroke, and a double swimming champion in the same discipline at the 2011 Summer Universiade in Shenzhen, China. Titenis is also a member of Anykščiai Swimming Club, and is coached and trained by Žilvinas Ovsiukas.
Jeong Da-rae is a South Korean former swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events. She is a gold medalist in the 200 m breaststroke at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.
The women's 100 metre breaststroke event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 29–30 July at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom.
The women's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 1–2 August 2012 at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom.
Inna Vitalievna Kapishina is a Belarusian former swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events. She is a multiple-time Belarusian champion and three-time national record holder in her respective discipline.
Rie Kaneto is a Japanese competitive swimmer who specializes in breaststroke events. She won the gold medal in the 200 meter breaststroke at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Megumi Taneda is a Japanese swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events. She claimed the 200 m breaststroke title in a close race against U.S. swimmer and eventual Olympic champion Rebecca Soni by 0.03 of a second at the 2005 Summer Universiade in Izmir, Turkey with a time of 2:27.81. Taneda is an economics graduate at Kanagawa University in Kanagawa.
Neil Robert Versfeld is a South African swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events. He finished ninth with a superb South African record in the men's 200 m breaststroke at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and has claimed multiple South African championship titles in the 50, 100, and 200 m breaststroke.
William Grant Diering is a South African swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events. He finished twelfth in the 200 m breaststroke at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and also set a new South African record (2:06.85) to earn a bronze medal at the FINA World Short Course Championships few months later in Manchester, England.
Diana Duarte Gomes is a Portuguese swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events. She is a two-time Olympian and a multiple-time Portuguese record holder for the long and short course breaststroke events. She also won three medals in the same category at the 2005 European Junior Swimming Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
The women's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place on 10–11 August at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium.