Men's 200 metre breaststroke at the Games of the XXXI Olympiad | |||||||||||||
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Venue | Olympic Aquatics Stadium | ||||||||||||
Dates | 9 August 2016 (heats & semifinals) 10 August 2016 (final) | ||||||||||||
Competitors | 39 from 30 nations | ||||||||||||
Winning time | 2:07.46 NR | ||||||||||||
Medalists | |||||||||||||
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Swimming at the 2016 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 men's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place between 9–10 August at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium. [1]
The winning margin was 0.07 seconds which as of 2023 remains the only time this event for men was won by less than a tenth of a second at the Olympics.
Double Asian Games champion Dmitriy Balandin surprised the field from the outside to become Kazakhstan's first ever gold medalist in swimming. [2] [3] Coming from behind in lane eight, he produced a late surge about the midway of the final leg to upset the pool for an unexpected Olympic triumph with a 2:07.46. [4] [5] U.S. breaststroker Josh Prenot nearly charged to the front at the final stretch, before fading to a runner-up finish in 2:07.53, seven-hundredths of a second behind the Kazakh. [6] Meanwhile, Russia's Anton Chupkov claimed the final podium spot, putting up a time of 2:07.70. [7]
Great Britain's Andrew Willis improved upon his eighth-place feat from London 2012 to finish fourth with a 2:07.78, narrowly missing on a podium by eight-hundredths of a second. [8] Japan's Yasuhiro Koseki seized a comfortable lead throughout the majority of the race but slipped down the order on the home stretch to finish fifth in 2:07.80. [9] Koseki's teammate Ippei Watanabe posted a sixth-place time in 2:07.87, while defending World Champion Marco Koch of Germany (2:08.00) and Prenot's fellow countryman Kevin Cordes (2:08.34) rounded out the top eight. [7]
Earlier in the semifinals, Watanabe threw down a top-seeded time of 2:07.22 to slice 0.06 seconds off the existing Olympic record set by Hungary's defending champion Dániel Gyurta, who had narrowly missed the top sixteen field in the heats. [10] [11]
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
World record | Akihiro Yamaguchi (JPN) | 2:07.01 | Gifu, Japan | 15 September 2012 | [12] [13] |
Olympic record | Dániel Gyurta (HUN) | 2:07.28 | London, United Kingdom | 1 August 2012 | [14] |
The following records were established during the competition:
Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
9 August | Semifinal 1 | Ippei Watanabe | Japan | 2:07.22 | OR |
The competition consisted of three rounds: heats, semifinals, and a final. The swimmers with the best 16 times in the heats advanced to the semifinals. The swimmers with the best 8 times in the semifinals advanced to the final. Swim-offs were used as necessary to break ties for advancement to the next round. [1]
Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 6 | Ippei Watanabe | Japan | 2:07.22 | Q, OR |
2 | 2 | Josh Prenot | United States | 2:07.78 | Q |
3 | 4 | Yasuhiro Koseki | Japan | 2:07.91 | Q |
4 | 3 | Dmitriy Balandin | Kazakhstan | 2:08.20 | Q |
5 | 5 | Ilya Khomenko | Russia | 2:09.73 | |
6 | 7 | Erik Persson | Sweden | 2:10.12 | |
7 | 8 | Luca Pizzini | Italy | 2:11.53 | |
8 | 1 | Carlos Claverie | Venezuela | 2:11.56 |
Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 5 | Andrew Willis | Great Britain | 2:07.73 | Q |
2 | 6 | Kevin Cordes | United States | 2:07.99 | Q |
3 | 4 | Anton Chupkov | Russia | 2:08.08 | Q |
4 | 3 | Marco Koch | Germany | 2:08.12 | Q |
5 | 2 | Mao Feilian | China | 2:09.64 | |
6 | 1 | Li Xiang | China | 2:10.92 | |
7 | 8 | Craig Benson | Great Britain | 2:10.93 | |
8 | 7 | Matti Mattsson | Finland | 2:12.99 |
Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
8 | Dmitriy Balandin | Kazakhstan | 2:07.46 | NR | |
3 | Josh Prenot | United States | 2:07.53 | ||
7 | Anton Chupkov | Russia | 2:07.70 | NR | |
4 | 5 | Andrew Willis | Great Britain | 2:07.78 | |
5 | 6 | Yasuhiro Koseki | Japan | 2:07.80 | |
6 | 4 | Ippei Watanabe | Japan | 2:07.87 | |
7 | 1 | Marco Koch | Germany | 2:08.00 | |
8 | 2 | Kevin Cordes | United States | 2:08.34 |
Dániel Gyurta is a Hungarian former competitive swimmer who mainly competed in the 200-metre breaststroke. In 2016, Gyurta became a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), he is a member of the European Olympic Committees (EOC) Athletes' Commission since 2013 and a member of the Athletes Commission since 2016.
Vladislav Vitalyevich Polyakov is a Kazakhstani swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events. He swam for his native Kazakhstan at three Olympic Games, and eventually finished fifth in both 100 and 200 m breaststroke at his official Olympic debut in Athens. In total, he has won eight medals in major international tournaments, including his first career gold from the 2006 FINA World Short Course Championships in Shanghai, China. While residing in the United States, Polyakov is a five-time SEC champion, a double NCAA titleholder, and a two-time gold medalist at the national championships. He also earned a total of twelve All-American titles while playing for the Alabama Crimson Tide from 2003 to 2007.
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.
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.
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.
The men's 100 metre breaststroke event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 28–29 July at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom.
The men's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 31 July and 1 August 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.
Michael Jamieson is a Scottish former competitive swimmer who represented Great Britain at the Olympics, FINA world championships and European championships, and Scotland in the Commonwealth Games. Jamieson won the silver medal in the men's 200-metre breaststroke at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He now is the Head Coach for the Swimming Club, Natare West London.
Choi Kyu-Woong is a South Korean swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events. He shared silver medals with China's Xue Ruipeng in the 200 m breaststroke at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, in a time of 2:12.25. He also collected two medals in both 100 and 200 m breaststroke at the 2009 East Asian Games in Hong Kong, China. Choi is a member of the swimming team at the Korea National Sport University in Seoul, under his personal coach Lee Woo-Shin.
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.
Nicolas Fink is an American competitive swimmer. He is a five-time world champion in breaststroke events. He is a world record holder in the short course 4×100 meter medley relay and 4×50 meter mixed medley relay. He is the Americas record holder in the short course 50 meter breaststroke, 100 meter breaststroke, and 200 meter breaststroke as well as the American record holder in the long course 50 meter breaststroke. In the 50 meter breaststroke, he won the World Short Course titles in 2021 and 2022 and World Long Course title in 2022. In the 100 meter breaststroke, he is the 2022 World Short Course gold medalist. In the 200 meter breaststroke, he is the 2021 World Short Course gold medalist.
Dmitriy Igorevich Balandin is a retired Kazakh breaststroke swimmer. He won the 200 m breaststroke at the 2016 Summer Olympics, as well as the 50, 100 and 200 m breaststroke events at the 2014 Asian Games.
The men's 100 metre breaststroke event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place between 6–7 August at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium.
The women's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place on 10–11 August at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium.
Anton Mikhailovich Chupkov is a Russian competitive swimmer. He is the European record holder in the long course 200 metre breaststroke and the Russian record holder in the long course 100 metre breaststroke. He formerly held the world record in the long course 200 metre breaststroke. At the 2015 European Games he won four gold medals in individual and relay events. He won the bronze medal in the 200 metre breaststroke at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He won the gold medal in the 200 metre breaststroke at the 2017 and 2019 World Aquatics Championships.
Ippei Watanabe is a Japanese swimmer and former world record holder in the 200 metre breaststroke.
The men's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held from 27 to 29 July 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. It was the event's twenty-sixth consecutive appearance, having been held at every edition since 1908.