Women's 200 metre breaststroke at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics | ||
---|---|---|
![]() | ||
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 |