Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's 800 metre freestyle

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Women's 800 metre freestyle
at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad
Venue Beijing National Aquatics Center
DateAugust 14, 2008 (heats)
August 16, 2008 (final)
Competitors36 from 29 nations
Winning time8:14.10 WR
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Rebecca Adlington Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain
Silver medal icon.svg Alessia Filippi Flag of Italy.svg  Italy
Bronze medal icon.svg Lotte Friis Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark
  2004
2012  

The women's 800 metre freestyle event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 14 and 16 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China. [1]

Great Britain's Rebecca Adlington broke one of the oldest world records in the book to claim a second Olympic gold, following her first triumph in the 400 m freestyle. She touched the wall first in 8:14.10, slashing 2.12-second deficit off Janet Evans' world record which had stood for nearly 19 years. [2] [3]

Coming from sixth place in the 350-metre lap, Italy's Alessia Filippi registered a time of 8:20.23 for a silver medal. Lotte Friis ended Denmark's 20-year medal drought in swimming to claim a bronze in 8:23.03, edging out Romania's Camelia Potec (8:23.03) on the final lap by eight-hundredths of a second. China's Li Xuanxu finished fifth with a time of 8:26.34, and was followed in the sixth spot by Australia's Kylie Palmer in 8:26.39. Russia's Yelena Sokolova (8:29.79) and another Brit Cassandra Patten (8:32.35) rounded out the finale. Notable swimmers missed out the top 8 final featuring U.S. top favorites Katie Hoff and Kate Ziegler, both of whom placed tenth and eleventh in the prelims race. [2] [4]

Earlier in the prelims, Adlington established a new Olympic standard in a top-seeded time of 8:18.06 to cut down Brooke Bennett's 2000 record by a 1.59-second deficit. [4]

Records

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

World recordFlag of the United States.svg  Janet Evans  (USA)8:16.22 Tokyo, Japan 20 August 1989 [5]
Olympic recordFlag of the United States.svg  Brooke Bennett  (USA)8:19.67 Sydney, Australia 22 September 2000-

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

DateEventNameNationalityTimeRecord
August 14Heat 4 Rebecca Adlington Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 8:18.06 OR
August 16Final Rebecca Adlington Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 8:14.10 WR

Results

Heats

RankHeatLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
144 Rebecca Adlington Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 8:18.06Q, OR
235 Camelia Potec Flag of Romania.svg  Romania 8:19.70Q
342 Lotte Friis Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 8:21.74Q
455 Alessia Filippi Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 8:21.95Q
543 Kylie Palmer Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 8:22.81Q, OC
651 Yelena Sokolova Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 8:23.07Q, NR
736 Li Xuanxu Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 8:24.37Q
857 Cassandra Patten Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 8:25.91Q
941 Wendy Trott Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa 8:26.21 AF
1054 Kate Ziegler Flag of the United States.svg  United States 8:26.98
1134 Katie Hoff Flag of the United States.svg  United States 8:27.78
1256 Coralie Balmy Flag of France.svg  France 8:28.34
1333 Flavia Rigamonti Flag of Switzerland.svg  Switzerland 8:28.67
1438 Andreina Pinto Flag of Venezuela.svg  Venezuela 8:30.30 NR
1547 You Meihong Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 8:31.11
1653 Erika Villaécija Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 8:32.27
1758 Melissa Gorman Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 8:32.34
1824 Susana Escobar Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 8:33.51 NR
1952 Sophie Huber Flag of France.svg  France 8:33.76
2025 Kristel Köbrich Flag of Chile.svg  Chile 8:34.25
2131 Maiko Fujino Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 8:35.60
2221 Jördis Steinegger Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 8:36.40 NR
2337 Tanya Hunks Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 8:38.05
2423 Gabriella Fagundez Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 8:39.06 NR
2546 Jaana Ehmcke Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 8:39.51
2626 Réka Nagy Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 8:40.38
2745 Ai Shibata Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 8:41.63
2848 Eleftheria Evgenia Efstathiou Flag of Greece.svg  Greece 8:41.65
2914 Au Hoishun Stephanie Flag of Hong Kong.svg  Hong Kong 8:41.66
3028 Lynette Lim Flag of Singapore.svg  Singapore 8:45.56
3122 Cecilia Biagioli Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina 8:50.18
3215 Golda Marcus Flag of El Salvador.svg  El Salvador 8:51.21
3313 Eva Lehtonen Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 8:53.50
3427 Khoo Cai Lin Flag of Malaysia.svg  Malaysia 9:04.86
3513 Karolina Szczepaniak Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 9:08.87
32 Federica Pellegrini Flag of Italy.svg  Italy DNS

Final

RankLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
Gold medal icon.svg4 Rebecca Adlington Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 8:14.10 WR
Silver medal icon.svg6 Alessia Filippi Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 8:20.23
Bronze medal icon.svg3 Lotte Friis Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 8:23.03
45 Camelia Potec Flag of Romania.svg  Romania 8:23.11
51 Li Xuanxu Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 8:26.34
62 Kylie Palmer Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 8:26.39
77 Yelena Sokolova Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 8:29.79
88 Cassandra Patten Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 8:32.35

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References

  1. "Olympic Swimming Schedule". USA Today. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  2. 1 2 Lohn, John (15 August 2008). "We Loved You While You Lasted Janet, Rebecca Adlington Erases Longest Standing World Record With Evans' Mark in 800 Free". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  3. "Adlington storms to second gold". BBC Sport. 16 August 2008. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  4. 1 2 Lohn, John (14 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Rebecca Adlington Sets Olympic Record in 800 Free Prelims". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  5. Dimond, Jeff (October 1989). "Swim and Deliver" (PDF). Swimming World and Junior Swimmer . 30 (10): 41–44. Retrieved 8 June 2008.[ permanent dead link ]