Swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's 800 metre freestyle

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Women's 800 metre freestyle
at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad
Venue Tokyo Aquatics Centre
Dates29 July 2021 (heats)
31 July 2021 (final)
Competitors30 from 22 nations
Winning time8:12.57
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Katie Ledecky Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Silver medal icon.svg Ariarne Titmus Flag of Australia.svg  Australia
Bronze medal icon.svg Simona Quadarella Flag of Italy.svg  Italy
  2016
2024  

The women's 800 metre freestyle event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held from 29 to 31 July 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. [1] It was the event's 14th consecutive appearance, having been held at every edition since 1968.

Katie Ledecky won the gold medal, becoming the first person to win the event three consecutive times. At age 24, Ledecky became the oldest winner in the event after already being the youngest at the age of 15 in 2012. [2]

Summary

U.S. distance legend Katie Ledecky won her third consecutive Olympic title in this event, joining Australian Dawn Fraser (100 free, 1956-64) and Hungarian Krisztina Egerszegi (200 back, 1988-96) as the only female swimmers in Olympic history to three-peat an event. Dominating the race from the start, Ledecky fended off a large charge by Australia's Ariarne Titmus to win gold in 8:12.79 - the 17th-fastest swim of all-time and of her career. Titmus, having bettered Ledecky in their 200 and 400 freestyle duels earlier in the week, lowered her Commonwealth record by almost two seconds to claim silver in 8:13.83.

Meanwhile, Italy's Simona Quadarella edged out the U.S.' 15-year-old Katie Grimes to earn bronze in 8:18.37. Grimes, the second fastest qualifier into the final following her teammate Ledecky, was unable to replicate her heat time and settled for fourth place in 8:19.38. Outside the 8:20 club, China's Wang Jianjiahe (8:21.93) and Titmus's teammate Kiah Melverton (8:22.25), picked up the fifth and sixth spots respectively, finishing 31-hundredths of a second apart from each other. Germany's Sarah Köhler (8:24.56) and ROC's Anastasiia Kirpichnikova (8:26.30) rounded out the championship field.

Records

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

World recordFlag of the United States.svg  Katie Ledecky  (USA)8:04.79 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 12 August 2016 [3]
Olympic recordFlag of the United States.svg  Katie Ledecky  (USA)8:04.79 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 12 August 2016 [3]

No new records were set during the competition.

Qualification

The Olympic Qualifying Time for the event was 8:33.36. Up to two swimmers per National Olympic Committee (NOC) could automatically qualify by swimming that time at an approved qualification event. The Olympic Selection Time was 8:48.76. Up to one swimmer per NOC meeting that time was eligible for selection, allocated by world ranking until the maximum quota for all swimming events was reached. NOCs without a female swimmer qualified in any event could also use their universality place. [4]

Competition format

The competition consisted of two rounds: heats and a final. The swimmers with the best 8 times in the heats advanced to the final. Swim-offs were used as necessary to break ties for advancement to the next round. [5]

Schedule

All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9) [1]

DateTimeRound
29 July19:00Heats
31 July10:46Final

Results

Heats

The swimmers with the top 8 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the final. [6]

RankHeatLaneSwimmerNationTimeNotes
144 Katie Ledecky Flag of the United States.svg  United States 8:15.67Q
246 Katie Grimes Flag of the United States.svg  United States 8:17.05Q
345 Simona Quadarella Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 8:17.32Q
443 Sarah Köhler Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 8:17.33Q
536 Anastasiya Kirpichnikova Russian Olympic Committee flag.png  ROC 8:18.77Q, NR
635 Ariarne Titmus Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 8:18.99Q
733 Kiah Melverton Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 8:20.45Q
834 Wang Jianjiahe Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 8:20.58Q
938 Isabel Gose Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 8:21.79
1031 Li Bingjie Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 8:22.49
1123 Summer McIntosh Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 8:25.04
1248 Merve Tuncel Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey 8:25.62
1332 Ajna Késely Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 8:26.20
1447 Mireia Belmonte Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 8:26.71
1526 Julia Hassler Flag of Liechtenstein.svg  Liechtenstein 8:26.99 NR
1625 Waka Kobori Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 8:28.90
1724 Miyu Namba Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 8:32.04
1813 Eve Thomas Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 8:32.51
1914 Kristel Köbrich Flag of Chile.svg  Chile 8:32.58
2042 Martina Caramignoli Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 8:33.15
2127 Jimena Pérez Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 8:33.98
2228 Marlene Kahler Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 8:36.16
2321 Deniz Ertan Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey 8:36.29
2415 Viviane Jungblut Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 8:38.88
2522 Tamila Holub Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal 8:40.04
2616 Katja Fain Flag of Slovenia.svg  Slovenia 8:41.13
2737 Delfina Pignatiello Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina 8:44.85
2812 Han Da-kyung Flag of South Korea.svg  South Korea 8:46.66
2911 Arianna Valloni Flag of San Marino.svg  San Marino 8:54.78
3017 Nguyễn Thị Ánh Viên Flag of Vietnam.svg  Vietnam 9:03.56
41 Anna Egorova Russian Olympic Committee flag.png  ROC DNS

Final

[7]

RankLaneSwimmerNationTimeNotes
Gold medal icon.svg4 Katie Ledecky Flag of the United States.svg  United States 8:12.57
Silver medal icon.svg7 Ariarne Titmus Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 8:13.83 OC
Bronze medal icon.svg3 Simona Quadarella Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 8:18.35
45 Katie Grimes Flag of the United States.svg  United States 8:19.38
58 Wang Jianjiahe Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 8:21.93
61 Kiah Melverton Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 8:22.25
76 Sarah Köhler Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 8:24.56
82 Anastasiya Kirpichnikova Russian Olympic Committee flag.png  ROC 8:26.30

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 "Tokyo 2020: Swimming Schedule". Tokyo 2020 . Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  2. Norlander, Matt. "Katie Ledecky makes history with 6th individual gold, cements Olympic icon status, and she'll be back in 2024".
  3. 1 2 Crouse, Karen (12 August 2016). "Katie Ledecky Smashes World Record in the 800-Meter Freestyle". The New York Times . Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  4. "Tokyo 2020 – FINA Swimming Qualification System" (PDF). Tokyo 2020 . FINA . Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  5. "FINA Swimming Rulebook, 2017–21" (PDF). FINA. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  6. "Heats results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 July 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  7. "Final results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 August 2021. Retrieved 31 July 2021.