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

In today's world, Swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's 800 metre freestyle has gained unprecedented relevance. Since its emergence, it has captured the attention and interest of countless individuals, becoming a recurring topic of conversation in all areas. Its impact has spread to all corners of the globe, arousing fervent interest and generating heated debates. Swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's 800 metre freestyle has left an indelible mark on society, significantly influencing the way people perceive the world around them. In this article, we will explore the phenomenon of Swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's 800 metre freestyle in depth, analyzing its origin, evolution and impact today.

Men's 800 metre freestyle
at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad
VenueTokyo Aquatics Centre
Dates27 July 2021 (heats)
29 July 2021 (final)
Competitors33 from 28 nations
Winning time7:41.87
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Bobby Finke  United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Gregorio Paltrinieri  Italy
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Mykhailo Romanchuk  Ukraine
← 1904 (880 yards)
2024 →
Swimming at the
2020 Summer Olympics
Sample picture of the event (unofficial)
Qualification
Freestyle
50 mmenwomen
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
400 mmenwomen
800 mmenwomen
1500 mmenwomen
Backstroke
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
Breaststroke
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
Butterfly
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
Individual medley
200 mmenwomen
400 mmenwomen
Freestyle relay
4 × 100 mmenwomen
4 × 200 mmenwomen
Medley relay
4 × 100 mmenmixedwomen
Marathon
10 kmmenwomen

The men's 800 metre freestyle event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held on 27 and 29 July 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.[1] It was the event's recurrence to the Games for the first time in over a century, having last been held in 1904 (at 880 yards).

Summary

The U.S.' Bobby Finke came from behind to win a surprise gold in the inaugural Olympic men's 800-meter freestyle. Fourth at the final turn, Finke unleashed a massive 26.39 split to overtake the field and lower the American record to 7:41.87. Earlier in the heats, Finke broke Michael McBroom's American record after coming into the meet with a personal best time of 7:48.22 set at the U.S. Olympic Trials.

Swimming in lane 8, Italy's reigning World champion Gregorio Paltrinieri was out quickly and established a body-length lead at the 200 m mark. While Germany's Florian Wellbrock and Ukraine's Mykhailo Romanchuk gained control at the halfway stage, Paltrinieri overtook the duo to claim silver in 7:42.11. Despite setting the Olympic record in the heats, Romanchuk was unable to replicate the time and settled for bronze in 7:42.33. Wellbrock was also unable to repeat his German record from the heats, narrowly missing the podium by 0.35 seconds.

Australia's Jack McLoughlin, who claimed silver in the 400 m freestyle on night one, picked up the fifth spot with a 7:45.00 to hold off Ukraine's Serhiy Frolov (7:45.11) by 11 one-hundredths of a second. Austria's Felix Auboeck finished seventh in 7:49.14, with Brazil's Guilherme Costa (7:53.31) rounding out the top eight field.

Records

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

World record  Zhang Lin (CHN) 7:32.12 Rome, Italy 29 July 2009 [2]
Olympic record Inaugural event — — — —

The following record was established during the competition:

Date Event Swimmer Nation Time Record
July 27 Heat 4 Mykhailo Romanchuk  Ukraine 7:41.28 OR

Qualification

Main article: Swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Qualification

The Olympic Qualifying Time for the event is 7:54.31. 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 8:08.54. 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.[3]

Competition format

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

Schedule

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

Date Time Round
Tuesday, 27 July 2021 20:17 Heats
Thursday, 29 July 2021 10:30 Final

Results

Heats

The swimmers with the top 8 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the final.[5]

Rank Heat Lane Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 4 5 Mykhailo Romanchuk  Ukraine 7:41.28 Q, OR, NR
2 4 3 Florian Wellbrock  Germany 7:41.77 Q, NR
3 4 7 Bobby Finke  United States 7:42.72 Q, NR
4 5 2 Felix Auböck  Austria 7:45.73 Q, NR
5 5 7 Guilherme Costa  Brazil 7:46.09 Q, SA
6 5 3 Jack McLoughlin  Australia 7:46.94 Q
7 4 2 Serhiy Frolov  Ukraine 7:47.67 Q
8 5 4 Gregorio Paltrinieri  Italy 7:47.73 Q
9 4 4 Henrik Christiansen  Norway 7:48.37
10 4 6 Ahmed Hafnaoui  Tunisia 7:49.14
1 4 Victor Johansson  Sweden NR
12 5 6 Gabriele Detti  Italy 7:49.47
13 5 1 Aleksandr Yegorov  ROC 7:49.97
14 3 8 Daniel Wiffen  Ireland 7:51.65 NR
15 3 5 Alfonso Mestre  Venezuela 7:52.07
16 3 7 Marwan El-Kamash  Egypt 7:52.76
17 4 8 Michael Brinegar  United States 7:53.00
18 2 6 Zac Reid  New Zealand 7:53.06 NR
19 3 1 Alexander Nørgaard  Denmark 7:53.50
20 2 5 Nguyễn Huy Hoàng  Vietnam 7:54.16
21 4 1 Anton Ipsen  Denmark 7:54.98
22 2 1 Ákos Kalmár  Hungary 7:55.85
23 2 4 José Lopes  Portugal 7:56.15
24 3 6 Yiğit Aslan  Turkey 7:56.18
25 3 4 Kieran Bird  Great Britain 7:57.53
26 2 3 Dimitrios Markos  Greece 7:58.68
27 2 7 Cheng Long  China 7:58.71
28 5 8 Jan Micka  Czech Republic 7:59.04
29 5 5 David Aubry  France 8:00.16
30 3 2 Ilya Druzhinin  ROC 8:01.47
31 1 3 Marcelo Acosta  El Salvador 8:03.01
32 1 5 Martin Bau  Slovenia 8:04.79
33 2 2 Vuk Čelić  Serbia 8:04.85
3 3 Konstantinos Englezakis  Greece DNS

Final

[6]

Rank Lane Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) 3 Bobby Finke  United States 7:41.87 NR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) 8 Gregorio Paltrinieri  Italy 7:42.11
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 4 Mykhailo Romanchuk  Ukraine 7:42.33
4 5 Florian Wellbrock  Germany 7:42.68
5 7 Jack McLoughlin  Australia 7:45.00
6 1 Serhiy Frolov  Ukraine 7:45.11
7 6 Felix Auböck  Austria 7:49.14
8 2 Guilherme Costa  Brazil 7:53.31

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Tokyo 2020: Swimming Schedule". Tokyo 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  2. ^ "FINA World Championships, Swimming: Flash! Zhang Lin Shatters Grant Hackett's 800 Free World Record in Victory". Swimming World Magazine. 29 July 2009. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  3. ^ "Tokyo 2020 – FINA Swimming Qualification System" (pdf). Tokyo 2020. FINA. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  4. ^ "FINA Swimming Rulebook, 2017–21" (PDF). FINA. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  5. ^ "Heats results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 July 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  6. ^ "Final results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 August 2021. Retrieved 1 August 2021.