Swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's 50 metre freestyle
| Men's 50 metre freestyle at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Tokyo Aquatics Centre | ||||||||||||
| Dates | 30 July 2021 (heats) 31 July 2021 (semifinals) 1 August 2021 (final) | ||||||||||||
| Competitors | 73 from 66 nations | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 21.07 OR | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Qualification | |||
| Freestyle | |||
| 50 m | men | women | |
| 100 m | men | women | |
| 200 m | men | women | |
| 400 m | men | women | |
| 800 m | men | women | |
| 1500 m | men | women | |
| 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 | mixed | women |
| Marathon | |||
| 10 km | men | women | |
The men's 50 metre freestyle event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held from 30 July to 1 August 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.[1] It was the event's tenth appearance, first held in 1904 (as 50 yards) and then at every edition since 1988. The event is nicknamed the "splash and dash" event.[2]
The winning margin was 0.48 seconds which as of 2023 is the only time this event has been won by more than 0.25 seconds at the Olympics.
Summary
[edit]U.S. swimmer Caeleb Dressel led from start to finish as he surged to an Olympic record time of 21.07, only 0.03 off his personal best time. By doing so, Dressel became the third male swimmer in history (joining Michael Phelps and Mark Spitz) to win three individual titles at a single Games.
At 0.48 seconds behind Dressel, Florent Manaudou claimed his second successive Olympic silver in this event following his triumph in 2012. Brazil's Bruno Fratus finished in 21.57 to win the bronze and his first career Olympic medal at the age of 32. Meanwhile, Dressel's teammate Michael Andrew narrowly missed the podium by two one-hundredths of a second.
Great Britain's Ben Proud and Greece's Kristian Gkolomeev came equal fifth in 21.72, while Lorenzo Zazzeri of Italy and Thom De Boer of the Netherlands rounded out the finalists.
The medals for competition were presented by Anant Singh, South African IOC member, and the gifts were presented by Husain Al-Musallam, FINA President.
Records
[edit]Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record |  César Cielo (BRA) |
20.91 | São Paulo, Brazil | 18 December 2009 | [3][4] |
| Olympic record | César Cielo (BRA) |
21.30 | Beijing, China | 16 August 2008 | [5] |
The following record was established during the competition:
| Date | Event | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 1 | Final | Caeleb Dressel |  United States |
21.07 | OR |
Qualification
[edit]The Olympic Qualifying Time for the event is 22.01 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 22.67 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.[6]
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.[7]
Schedule
[edit]All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)[1]
| Date | Time | Round |
|---|---|---|
| Friday, 30 July 2021 | 19:00 | Heats |
| Saturday, 31 July 2021 | 11:11 | Semifinals |
| Sunday, 1 August 2021 | 10:30 | Final |
Results
[edit]Heats
[edit]The swimmers with the top 16 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the semifinals.[8]
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 | 4 | Caeleb Dressel | United States |
21.42 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | 4 | Florent Manaudou |  France |
21.53 | Q |
| 3 | 1 | 5 | Bruno Fratus | Brazil |
21.60 | Q |
| 2 | 5 | Kristian Gkolomeev |  Greece |
Q | ||
| 5 | 2 | 1 | Benjamin Proud |  Great Britain |
21.67 | Q |
| 2 | 7 | Michael Andrew | United States |
Q | ||
| 7 | 2 | 2 | Lorenzo Zazzeri |  Italy |
21.75 | Q |
| 8 | 1 | 3 | Thom de Boer |  Netherlands |
21.78 | Q |
| 9 | 1 | 2 | Kliment Kolesnikov |  ROC |
21.82 | |
| 1 | 6 | Brent Hayden |  Canada |
|||
| 11 | 2 | 3 | Vladyslav Bukhov |  Ukraine |
21.83 | |
| 12 | 2 | 6 | Jesse Puts | Netherlands |
21.87 | |
| 2 | 8 | Maxime Grousset | France |
|||
| 14 | 1 | 8 | Paweł Juraszek |  Poland |
21.88 | |
| 15 | 1 | 1 | Alberto Mestre |  Venezuela |
22.22 | |
| 16 | 1 | 7 | Vladimir Morozov | ROC |
22.25 |
Final
[edit]| Rank | Lane | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
4 | Caeleb Dressel | United States |
21.07 | OR |
 |
5 | Florent Manaudou | France |
21.55 | |
 |
3 | Bruno Fratus | Brazil |
21.57 | |
| 4 | 7 | Michael Andrew | United States |
21.60 | |
| 5 | 2 | Benjamin Proud | Great Britain |
21.72 | |
| 6 | Kristian Gkolomeev | Greece |
|||
| 7 | 1 | Lorenzo Zazzeri | Italy |
21.78 | |
| 8 | 8 | Thom de Boer | Netherlands |
21.79 |
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Swimming - Men's 50m Freestyle Schedule". Tokyo 2020. Archived from the original on 6 October 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
- ^ "Anthony Ervin wins the men's 'splash and dash' 50m freestyle Olympic title".
- ^ "Brazil's Cesar Cielo breaks 50m freestyle world record". France24. 18 December 2009. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ^ "Brazil Long Course Championships: Cesar Cielo Sets World Record". Swimming World Magazine. 18 December 2009. Archived from the original on 23 February 2013. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
- ^ "'Big Cesar' races to first Brazilian swim gold". ESPN. 16 August 2008. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- ^ "Tokyo 2020 – FINA Swimming Qualification System" (PDF). Tokyo 2020. FINA. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
- ^ "FINA Swimming Rulebook, 2017–21" (PDF). FINA. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
- ^ "Heats results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 July 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
- ^ "Semifinals results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 July 2021. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
- ^ "Final results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 August 2021. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
| 50 yards | |
|---|---|
| 50 metres | |
