Swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre freestyle

The men's 100 metre freestyle event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held from 27 to 29 July 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.[1] There were approximately 60 competitors from approximately 45 nations, with the ultimate numbers determined through the ongoing selection process, including universality places.[2]

Men's 100 metre freestyle
at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad
VenueTokyo Aquatics Centre
Dates27 July 2021 (heats)
28 July 2021 (semifinals)
29 July 2021 (final)
Competitors70 from 62 nations
Winning time47.02 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Caeleb Dressel  United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Kyle Chalmers  Australia
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Kliment Kolesnikov  ROC
← 2016
2024 →

Background

edit

It was the event's 28th appearance, having been held at every edition except 1900.

Defending champion Kyle Chalmers of Australia is expected to return, as are fifth-place finisher Duncan Scott of Great Britain and sixth-place finisher Caeleb Dressel of the United States. Dressel is the two-time reigning World Champion (2017 and 2019), with Chalmers the runner-up in 2019.

Summary

edit

Labelled the "next Michael Phelps"[3] following his breakthrough four years ago at the 2017 World Championships, the U.S.' megastar Caeleb Dressel finally won his first individual Olympic title. Dressel used his signature explosive start to gain a strong advantage on the field and touch first at the 50, before narrowly holding on in the final lap to clock a new Olympic record of 47.02.

While Australia's defending Olympic champion Kyle Chalmers stormed home in the last 50, he could not overtake Dressel down the stretch, relegating him to silver by 0.06 seconds. Russia's Kliment Kolesnikov turned first at the halfway mark 0.10 seconds ahead of Dressel, though could not hang on with the finishing speed of Dressel and Chalmers, claiming bronze in 47.44.

French swimmer Maxime Grousset could not emulate the feats of his compatriot Alain Bernard, the 2008 Olympic Champion, slipping off the podium to fourth place. Korea's Hwang Sun-woo (47.82) and Italy's Alessandro Miressi (47.86) followed Grousset in fifth and sixth. Romanian 16-year old David Popovici (48.04) was unable to replicate his stunning 47.30 from earlier in the year, falling to seventh while Hungary's Nandor Nemeth (48.10) rounded out the championship field.

The medals for the competition were presented by Canada's Dick Pound, IOC member, and the gifts were presented by Senegal's Mouhamedou Diop, FINA Bureau Member.

Qualification

edit

The Olympic Qualifying Time for the event is 48.57 seconds. Up to two swimmers per National Olympic Committee (NOC) can automatically qualify by swimming that time at an approved qualification event. The Olympic Selection Time is 50.03 seconds. Up to one swimmer per NOC meeting that time is eligible for selection, allocated by world ranking until the maximum quota for all swimming events is reached. NOCs without a male swimmer qualified in any event can also use their universality place.[2]

Competition format

edit

The competition consists of three rounds: heats, semifinals, and a final. The swimmers with the best 16 times in the heats advance to the semifinals. The swimmers with the best 8 times in the semifinals advance to the final. Swim-offs are used as necessary to break ties for advancement to the next round.[4]

Records

edit

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

World record   César Cielo (BRA) 46.91 Rome, Italy 30 July 2009 [5][6]
Olympic record   Eamon Sullivan (AUS) 47.05 Beijing, China 13 August 2008 [7]

The following record was established during the competition:

Date Event Swimmer Nation Time Record
July 29 Final Caeleb Dressel   United States 47.02 OR

Schedule

edit

The schedule is a three-day schedule, with each round on separate days.[1]

All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)

Date Time Round
Tuesday, 27 July 2021 19:00 Heats
Wednesday, 28 July 2021 10:30 Semifinals
Thursday, 29 July 2021 11:37 Final

Results

edit

Heats

edit

The swimmers with the top 16 times, regardless of heat, advance to the semifinals.[8]

Rank Heat Lane Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 9 2 Thomas Ceccon   Italy 47.71 Q
2 9 4 Caeleb Dressel   United States 47.73 Q
3 8 4 Kyle Chalmers   Australia 47.77 Q
4 9 5 Alessandro Miressi   Italy 47.83 Q
5 7 4 Kliment Kolesnikov   ROC 47.89 Q
6 7 3 Hwang Sun-woo   South Korea 47.97 Q, NR
7 8 5 Andrey Minakov   ROC 48.00 Q
8 9 6 David Popovici   Romania 48.03 Q
9 9 3 Nándor Németh   Hungary 48.11 Q
10 8 8 Yuri Kisil   Canada 48.15 Q
11 7 5 Zach Apple   United States 48.16 Q
12 8 3 Maxime Grousset   France 48.25 Q
13 8 2 Andrej Barna   Serbia 48.30 Q
14 7 6 Joshua Liendo   Canada 48.34 Q
15 7 2 Roman Mityukov   Switzerland 48.43 Q
16 6 2 Jacob Whittle   Great Britain 48.44 Q
17 9 7 Katsumi Nakamura   Japan 48.48
18 7 1 Apostolos Christou   Greece 48.50
18 8 6 He Junyi   China 48.50
20 7 8 Szebasztián Szabó   Hungary 48.51
21 6 7 Stan Pijnenburg   Netherlands 48.53
22 6 6 Dylan Carter   Trinidad and Tobago 48.66
23 7 7 Mehdy Metella   France 48.68
24 9 1 Cameron McEvoy   Australia 48.72
25 8 1 Pedro Spajari   Brazil 48.74
26 6 4 Damian Wierling   Germany 48.83
27 6 1 Robin Hanson   Sweden 49.07
28 5 7 Nikola Miljenić   Croatia 49.25
29 6 8 Meiron Cheruti   Israel 49.26
30 5 3 Ali Khalafalla   Egypt 49.31
5 4 Mikel Schreuders   Aruba
32 6 5 Gabriel Santos   Brazil 49.33
33 5 6 Alberto Mestre   Venezuela 49.44
34 4 5 Ian Ho   Hong Kong 49.49
35 9 8 Serhiy Shevtsov   Ukraine 49.55
36 5 8 Luke Gebbie   Philippines 49.64 NR
37 6 3 Oussama Sahnoune   Algeria 49.65
38 4 4 Artur Barseghyan   Armenia 49.78 NR
39 5 5 Joseph Schooling   Singapore 49.84
40 4 6 Nikolas Antoniou   Cyprus 50.00
41 4 7 Khurshidjon Tursunov   Uzbekistan 50.14
42 4 8 Peter Wetzlar   Zimbabwe 50.31 NR
43 4 2 Samy Boutouil   Morocco 50.37
44 5 1 Ben Hockin   Paraguay 50.41
45 5 2 Emir Muratović   Bosnia and Herzegovina 50.43
46 4 3 Ari-Pekka Liukkonen   Finland 50.48
47 3 4 Mokhtar Al-Yamani   Yemen 50.52 NR
48 4 1 Matthew Abeysinghe   Sri Lanka 50.62
49 3 3 Andrew Chetcuti   Malta 51.47
50 3 6 Yousuf Al-Matrooshi   United Arab Emirates 51.50
51 3 5 Stefano Mitchell   Antigua and Barbuda 51.64
52 3 2 Kledi Kadiu   Albania 51.65
53 3 1 Issa Al-Adawi   Oman 51.81
54 3 7 Jean Zephir   Saint Lucia 51.94
55 3 8 Miguel Mena   Nicaragua 51.99
56 2 4 Danilo Rosafio   Kenya 52.54
57 2 5 Jagger Stephens   Guam 52.72
58 2 6 Delron Felix   Grenada 52.99
59 1 6 Alexander Shah   Nepal 53.41 NR
60 2 3 Mathieu Marquet   Mauritius 53.56
61 2 2 Boško Radulović   Montenegro 53.60
62 2 7 Muhammad Haseeb Tariq   Pakistan 53.81
63 2 1 Atuhaire Ambala   Uganda 54.23
64 1 3 Olt Kondirolli   Kosovo 54.33
2 8 Belly-Cresus Ganira   Burundi NR
66 1 5 Yazan Al-Bawwab   Palestine 54.51
67 1 4 Andrew Fowler   Guyana 55.23
68 1 1 Sangay Tenzin   Bhutan 57.57
69 1 2 Mubal Ibrahim   Maldives 58.37
70 1 7 Edgar Iro   Solomon Islands 1:00.13
8 7 Matthew Richards   Great Britain DNS

Semifinals

edit

The swimmers with the best 8 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the final.[9]

Rank Heat Lane Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 2 3 Kliment Kolesnikov   ROC 47.11 Q, ER
2 1 4 Caeleb Dressel   United States 47.23 Q
3 1 5 Alessandro Miressi   Italy 47.52 Q
4 1 3 Hwang Sun-woo   South Korea 47.56 Q, AS
5 1 6 David Popovici   Romania 47.72 Q
6 2 5 Kyle Chalmers   Australia 47.80 Q
7 2 2 Nándor Németh   Hungary 47.81 Q, NR
8 1 7 Maxime Grousset   France 47.82 Q
9 2 1 Andrej Barna   Serbia 47.94 NR
10 2 6 Andrey Minakov   ROC 48.03
11 2 7 Zach Apple   United States 48.04
12 2 4 Thomas Ceccon   Italy 48.05
13 1 8 Jacob Whittle   Great Britain 48.11
14 1 1 Joshua Liendo   Canada 48.19
15 1 2 Yuri Kisil   Canada 48.31
16 2 8 Roman Mityukov   Switzerland 48.53

Final

edit

[10]

Rank Lane Swimmer Nation Time Notes
  5 Caeleb Dressel   United States 47.02 OR
  7 Kyle Chalmers   Australia 47.08
  4 Kliment Kolesnikov   ROC 47.44
4 8 Maxime Grousset   France 47.72
5 6 Hwang Sun-woo   South Korea 47.82
6 3 Alessandro Miressi   Italy 47.86
7 2 David Popovici   Romania 48.04
8 1 Nándor Németh   Hungary 48.10

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "Tokyo 2020: Swimming Schedule". Tokyo 2020. Archived from the original on 26 June 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Tokyo 2020 – FINA Swimming Qualification System" (PDF). Tokyo 2020. FINA. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  3. ^ "Caeleb Dressel on the precipice of becoming the next Michael Phelps". Los Angeles Times. 23 July 2021. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  4. ^ "FINA Swimming Rulebook, 2017–21" (PDF). FINA. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  5. ^ Crouse, Karen (31 July 2009). "Lochte Finds Phelps Is Everywhere but in the Pool". New York Times. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  6. ^ "Cielo sets 50-meter freestyle mark". ESPN. 18 December 2009. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  7. ^ Johanson, Simon (13 August 2008). "Sullivan smashes world record – again". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
  8. ^ "Heats results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 July 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  9. ^ "Semifinals results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 August 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  10. ^ "Final results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 July 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2021.