Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's 800 metre freestyle

The women's 800 metre freestyle event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 14 and 16 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.[1]

Women's 800 metre freestyle
at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad
VenueBeijing National Aquatics Center
DateAugust 14, 2008 (heats)
August 16, 2008 (final)
Competitors36 from 29 nations
Winning time8:14.10 WR
Medalists
Rebecca Adlington  Great Britain
Alessia Filippi  Italy
Lotte Friis  Denmark
Swimming at the
2008 Summer Olympics
Qualification
Freestyle
50 mmenwomen
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
400 mmenwomen
800 mwomen
1500 mmen
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 mmenwomen
Marathon
10 kmmenwomen

Great Britain's Rebecca Adlington broke one of the oldest world records in the book to claim a second Olympic gold, following her first triumph in the 400 m freestyle. She touched the wall first in 8:14.10, slashing 2.12-second deficit off Janet Evans' world record which had stood for nearly 19 years.[2][3]

Coming from sixth place in the 350-metre lap, Italy's Alessia Filippi registered a time of 8:20.23 for a silver medal. Lotte Friis ended Denmark's 20-year medal drought in swimming to claim a bronze in 8:23.03, edging out Romania's Camelia Potec (8:23.03) on the final lap by eight-hundredths of a second. China's Li Xuanxu finished fifth with a time of 8:26.34, and was followed in the sixth spot by Australia's Kylie Palmer in 8:26.39. Russia's Yelena Sokolova (8:29.79) and another Brit Cassandra Patten (8:32.35) rounded out the finale. Notable swimmers missed out the top 8 final featuring U.S. top favorites Katie Hoff and Kate Ziegler, both of whom placed tenth and eleventh in the prelims race.[2][4]

Earlier in the prelims, Adlington established a new Olympic standard in a top-seeded time of 8:18.06 to cut down Brooke Bennett's 2000 record by a 1.59-second deficit.[4]

Records

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

World record Janet Evans (USA)8:16.22Tokyo, Japan20 August 1989[5]
Olympic record Brooke Bennett (USA)8:19.67Sydney, Australia22 September 2000-

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

DateEventNameNationalityTimeRecord
August 14Heat 4Rebecca Adlington Great Britain8:18.06OR
August 16FinalRebecca Adlington Great Britain8:14.10WR, OR

Results

Heats
RankHeatLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
144Rebecca Adlington Great Britain8:18.06Q, OR
235Camelia Potec Romania8:19.70Q
342Lotte Friis Denmark8:21.74Q
455Alessia Filippi Italy8:21.95Q
543Kylie Palmer Australia8:22.81Q, OC
651Yelena Sokolova Russia8:23.07Q, NR
736Li Xuanxu China8:24.37Q
857Cassandra Patten Great Britain8:25.91Q
941Wendy Trott South Africa8:26.21AF
1054Kate Ziegler United States8:26.98
1134Katie Hoff United States8:27.78
1256Coralie Balmy France8:28.34
1333Flavia Rigamonti Switzerland8:28.67
1438Andreina Pinto Venezuela8:30.30NR
1547You Meihong China8:31.11
1653Erika Villaécija Spain8:32.27
1758Melissa Gorman Australia8:32.34
1824Susana Escobar Mexico8:33.51NR
1952Sophie Huber France8:33.76
2025Kristel Köbrich Chile8:34.25
2131Maiko Fujino Japan8:35.60
2221Jördis Steinegger Austria8:36.40NR
2337Tanya Hunks Canada8:38.05
2423Gabriella Fagundez Sweden8:39.06NR
2546Jaana Ehmcke Germany8:39.51
2626Réka Nagy Hungary8:40.38
2745Ai Shibata Japan8:41.63
2848Eleftheria Evgenia Efstathiou Greece8:41.65
2914Au Hoishun Stephanie Hong Kong8:41.66
3028Lynette Lim Singapore8:45.56
3122Cecilia Biagioli Argentina8:50.18
3215Golda Marcus El Salvador8:51.21
3313Eva Lehtonen Finland8:53.50
3427Khoo Cai Lin Malaysia9:04.86
3513Karolina Szczepaniak Poland9:08.87
32Federica Pellegrini ItalyDNS

Final
RankLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
4Rebecca Adlington Great Britain8:14.10WR
6Alessia Filippi Italy8:20.23
3Lotte Friis Denmark8:23.03
45Camelia Potec Romania8:23.11
51Li Xuanxu China8:26.34
62Kylie Palmer Australia8:26.39
77Yelena Sokolova Russia8:29.79
88Cassandra Patten Great Britain8:32.35

References
  1. "Olympic Swimming Schedule". USA Today. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  2. Lohn, John (15 August 2008). "We Loved You While You Lasted Janet, Rebecca Adlington Erases Longest Standing World Record With Evans' Mark in 800 Free". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  3. "Adlington storms to second gold". BBC Sport. 16 August 2008. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  4. Lohn, John (14 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Rebecca Adlington Sets Olympic Record in 800 Free Prelims". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  5. Dimond, Jeff (October 1989). "Swim and Deliver" (PDF). Swimming World and Junior Swimmer. 30 (10): 41–44. Retrieved 8 June 2008.
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