| Women's 200 metre individual medley at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Beijing National Aquatics Center | ||||||||||||
| Date | August 11, 2008 (heats) August 12, 2008 (semifinals) August 13, 2008 (final) | ||||||||||||
| Competitors | 39 from 30 nations | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 2:08.45 WR | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| ← 20042012 → | |||||||||||||
| 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 individual medley event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 11–13 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.
Australia's Stephanie Rice became the third swimmer in Olympic history to strike a medley double, since Michelle Smith did so in 1996 and Yana Klochkova in 2000 and 2004. She established a sterling time of 2:08.45 to lower her world record from the Olympic trials by almost half a second (0.50). Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry added a third silver to her collection, finishing with an African record of 2:08.59. U.S. swimmer Natalie Coughlin, who held the lead on the backstroke leg, picked up a bronze medal in 2:10.34.
Completing the second half of a difficult double, American Katie Hoff produced the same result from the 200 m freestyle, as she finished again in fourth place with a time of 2:10.68. Australia's Alicia Coutts placed fifth in 2:11.43, while Japan's Asami Kitagawa swam the outside lane to finish the race in sixth place at 2:11.56. On the strength of the breaststroke leg, Kitagawa won a swimoff for the last slot in the top 8 final over Hungary's Evelyn Verrasztó. Canada's Julia Wilkinson (2:12.43) and Poland's Katarzyna Baranowska (2:13.36) closed out the field.
Earlier in the semifinals, Coventry established an Olympic standard of 2:09.53 to cut off Yana Klochkova's eight-year record by a 1.15-second deficit.
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record |  Stephanie Rice (AUS) |
2:08.92 | Sydney, Australia | 25 March 2008 | |
| Olympic record |  Yana Klochkova (UKR) |
2:10.68 | Sydney, Australia | 19 September 2000 | - |
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 12 | Semifinal 1 | Kirsty Coventry |  Zimbabwe |
2:09.53 | OR |
| August 13 | Final | Stephanie Rice |  Australia |
2:08.45 | WR |
Results
Heats
Semifinals
Semifinal 1
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Kirsty Coventry | Zimbabwe |
2:09.53 | Q, OR |
| 2 | 3 | Stephanie Rice | Australia |
2:10.58 | Q |
| 3 | 4 | Katie Hoff |  United States |
2:10.90 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | Katarzyna Baranowska |  Poland |
2:12.13 | Q, NR |
| 5 | 5 | Hannah Miley |  Great Britain |
2:12.35 | |
| 6 | 8 | Svetlana Karpeeva |  Russia |
2:13.26 | |
| 7 | 1 | Mireia Belmonte García |  Spain |
2:13.45 | |
| 8 | 7 | Li Jiaxing |  China |
2:13.47 |
Semifinal 2
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Natalie Coughlin | United States
|
2:11.84 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | Julia Wilkinson |  Canada
|
2:12.03 | Q |
| 4 | Alicia Coutts | Australia
|
Q | ||
| 4 | 2 | Asami Kitagawa |  Japan
|
2:12.18 | QSO, NR |
| 7 | Evelyn Verrasztó |  Hungary
|
QSO | ||
| 6 | 3 | Julie Hjorth-Hansen |  Denmark
|
2:12.26 | |
| 7 | 6 | Camille Muffat |  France
|
2:12.36 | |
| 8 | 8 | Keri-Anne Payne | Great Britain
|
2:14.14 |
Swimoff
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Asami Kitagawa | Japan
|
2:12.02 | Q, NR |
| 2 | 4 | Evelyn Verrasztó | Hungary
|
2:14.96 |
Final
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
5 | Stephanie Rice | Australia |
2:08.45 | WR |
 |
4 | Kirsty Coventry | Zimbabwe |
2:08.59 | AF |
 |
6 | Natalie Coughlin | United States |
2:10.34 | |
| 4 | 3 | Katie Hoff | United States |
2:10.68 | |
| 5 | 2 | Alicia Coutts | Australia |
2:11.43 | |
| 6 | 8 | Asami Kitagawa | Japan |
2:11.56 | NR |
| 7 | 7 | Julia Wilkinson | Canada |
2:12.43 | |
| 8 | 1 | Katarzyna Baranowska | Poland |
2:13.36 |
References
- "Olympic Swimming Schedule". USA Today. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
- Cowley, Michael (14 August 2008). "Rice and shine". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
- "Rice claims medley double". ABC News. 13 August 2008. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
- ^ Lohn, John (12 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Stephanie Rice Clocks World Record to Win 200 IM". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 8 May 2013. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
- "Rice edges thrilling medley final". BBC Sport. 13 August 2008. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
- "World records fall in women's 200 free, 200 IM". ESPN. 13 August 2008. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
- ^ Lohn, John (11 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Kirsty Coventry Clocks Olympic Record in 200 IM Semis". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
- "Rice out-touches Coventry for gold medal, Julia's rise through world rankings meteoric". Stratford Beacon-Herald. 13 August 2008. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
- "Rice claims new world mark for medley". The Age. 25 March 2008. Archived from the original on 27 May 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
External links
| Olympic champions in women's 200 m individual medley | |
|---|---|
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