| Women's 200 metre breaststroke at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Beijing National Aquatics Center | ||||||||||||
| Date | August 13, 2008 (heats) August 14, 2008 (semifinals) August 15, 2008 (final) | ||||||||||||
| Competitors | 41 from 34 nations | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 2:20.22 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 breaststroke event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 13–15 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.
U.S. swimmer Rebecca Soni pulled away over the final lap to capture gold and set a new world record of 2:20.22. Australia's world record holder and top favorite Leisel Jones enjoyed a strong lead in the first 100 metres, but ended up only with a silver in 2:22.05, almost two seconds behind Soni. Meanwhile, Sara Nordenstam earned Norway's second Olympic medal in swimming, as she powered home with a bronze in a European record of 2:23.02.
Austria's Mirna Jukić finished outside the medals in fourth place at 2:23.24, while Russia's Yuliya Yefimova set a national record of 2:23.76 to hold off Canada's Annamay Pierse (2:23.77) for a fifth spot by a hundredth of a second (0.01). Japanese duo Rie Kaneto (2:25.14) and Megumi Taneda (2:25.23) closed out the field.
Notable swimmers failed to reach the top 8 final, featuring Germany's Anne Poleska, bronze medalist in Athens four years earlier. Competing at her fourth Olympics, defending champion Amanda Beard placed eighteenth in 2:27.70, but missed the semifinals by 0.42 seconds.
Earlier in the prelims, Soni posted a top-seeded time of 2:22.17 to lead the heats, cutting off Beard's Olympic record by exactly two-tenths of a second (0.20).
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record |  Leisel Jones (AUS) |
2:20.54 | Melbourne, Australia | 1 February 2006 | |
| Olympic record |  Amanda Beard (USA) |
2:23.37 | Athens, Greece | 19 August 2004 | - |
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 13 | Heat 5 | Rebecca Soni | United States |
2:22.17 | OR |
| August 15 | Final | Rebecca Soni | United States |
2:20.22 | WR |
Results
Heats
Semifinals
Semifinal 1
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Leisel Jones |  Australia
|
2:23.04 | Q |
| 2 | 5 | Sara Nordenstam |  Norway
|
2:23.79 | Q, EU |
| 3 | 6 | Yuliya Yefimova |  Russia
|
2:24.00 | Q |
| 4 | 3 | Megumi Taneda |  Japan
|
2:25.42 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | Sally Foster | Australia
|
2:26.33 | |
| 6 | 1 | Anne Poleska |  Germany
|
2:26.71 | |
| 7 | 7 | Joline Höstman |  Sweden
|
2:27.14 | |
| 8 | 8 | Jeong Da-rae |  South Korea
|
2:28.28 |
Semifinal 2
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Rebecca Soni | United States
|
2:22.64 | Q |
| 2 | 5 | Mirna Jukić |  Austria
|
2:23.76 | Q, EU |
| 3 | 6 | Annamay Pierse |  Canada
|
2:23.94 | Q |
| 4 | 3 | Rie Kaneto | Japan
|
2:25.65 | Q |
| 5 | 7 | Jung Seul-ki | South Korea
|
2:26.83 | |
| 6 | 1 | Qi Hui |  China
|
2:27.63 | |
| 7 | 2 | Suzaan van Biljon |  South Africa
|
2:28.45 | |
| 8 | 8 | Elise Matthysen |  Belgium
|
2:29.64 |
Final
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
4 | Rebecca Soni | United States
|
2:20.22 | WR |
|
5 | Leisel Jones | Australia
|
2:22.05 | |
|
6 | Sara Nordenstam | Norway
|
2:23.02 | EU |
| 4 | 3 | Mirna Jukić | Austria
|
2:23.24 | NR |
| 5 | 7 | Yuliya Yefimova | Russia
|
2:23.76 | NR |
| 6 | 2 | Annamay Pierse | Canada
|
2:23.77 | NR |
| 7 | 1 | Rie Kaneto | Japan
|
2:25.14 | |
| 8 | 8 | Megumi Taneda | Japan
|
2:25.23 |
References
- "Olympic Swimming Schedule". USA Today. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
- Majendie, Paul (15 August 2008). "Soni goes from heart surgery to gold medal". Reuters. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
- "Rebecca Soni breaks 200m breaststroke record". France 24. 15 August 2008. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
- Breen, Neil (15 August 2008). "Leisel Jones collapses after silver in 200m breaststroke final at Beijing Olympics". Herald Sun. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
- ^ Lohn, John (14 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Rebecca Soni Upsets Leisel Jones With 200 Breast World Record". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
- "Swimmer Phelps wins a sixth gold medal at Beijing". CTV News. 15 August 2008. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
- ^ Lohn, John (13 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Rebecca Soni Sets Olympic, American Record to Lead 200 Breast Qualifying". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 23 June 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
- Pierce, Tony (13 August 2008). "Was Amanda Beard sick, distracted, or just too old to compete in Beijing?". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
- Cowley, Michael (2 February 2006). "Lethal again: Jones beats own record". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
External links
| Olympic champions in women's 200 m breaststroke | |
|---|---|
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