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Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metre breaststroke

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.[1]

U.S. swimmer Rebecca Soni pulled away over the final lap to capture gold and set a new world record of 2:20.22.[2][3] 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.[4] 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.[5]

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).[6] Japanese duo Rie Kaneto (2:25.14) and Megumi Taneda (2:25.23) closed out the field.[5]

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.[7][8]

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).[7]

Records

Leisel Jones, the world record holder and favourite for the 200 m breaststroke.

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

The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.

Results

Heats

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Semifinal 2

Final

References

  1. ^ "Olympic Swimming Schedule". USA Today. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  2. ^ Majendie, Paul (15 August 2008). "Soni goes from heart surgery to gold medal". Reuters. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  3. ^ "Rebecca Soni breaks 200m breaststroke record". France 24. 15 August 2008. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  4. ^ Breen, Neil (15 August 2008). "Leisel Jones collapses after silver in 200m breaststroke final at Beijing Olympics". Herald Sun. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  5. ^ a b 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.
  6. ^ "Swimmer Phelps wins a sixth gold medal at Beijing". CTV News. 15 August 2008. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  7. ^ a b 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.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ Cowley, Michael (2 February 2006). "Lethal again: Jones beats own record". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 6 August 2008.

External links