Swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's 800 metre freestyle

The women's 800 metre freestyle event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 2–3 August at the London Aquatics Centre[1] based at the Olympic park London.

Women's 800 metre freestyle
at the Games of the XXX Olympiad
VenueLondon Aquatics Centre
DatesAugust 2, 2012 (heats)
August 3, 2012 (final)
Competitors36 from 30 nations
Winning time8:14.63 AM
Medalists
Katie Ledecky  United States
Mireia Belmonte García  Spain
Rebecca Adlington  Great Britain
Swimming at the
2012 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

Aged only 15, American Katie Ledecky narrowly missed the world record on the final lap to recapture the Olympic title for the Americans since Brooke Bennett topped the podium in 2000. Strengthening her lead almost the entire race, she headed into the 750-metre turn under world-record pace, and pulled off a stunning upset from the rest of the field to post a personal best and smash Janet Evans' 23-year-old U.S. record in 8:14.63.[2] Spain's Mireia Belmonte García added a second silver to her Olympic hardware in a national record of 8:18.76.[3] Meanwhile, Great Britain's Rebecca Adlington, the reigning Olympic champion, tried to hold on with Ledecky earlier through the race, but faded down the stretch to pick up a bronze in 8:20.32.[4][5]

New Zealand's Lauren Boyle produced a spectacular swim to finish with a fourth-place time and an Oceanian record in 8:22.72.[6] Meanwhile, Denmark's Lotte Friis, the defending bronze medalist, opened up the race with an early lead, but dropped back to fifth in 8:23.86 to hold off a fast-charging Hungarian Boglárka Kapás (8:23.89) on the final lap by almost a fingertip. France's Coralie Balmy (8:29.26) and Venezuela's Andreina Pinto (8:29.28) rounded out the field in one of the program's long-distance pool races.[5]

Records

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

World record Rebecca Adlington (GBR)8:14.10Beijing, China16 August 2008[7][8]
Olympic record Rebecca Adlington (GBR)8:14.10Beijing, China16 August 2008[7][8]

Results

Heats

[9]

RankHeatLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
154Rebecca Adlington Great Britain8:21.78Q
244Lotte Friis Denmark8:21.89Q
334Katie Ledecky United States8:23.84Q
435Mireia Belmonte García Spain8:25.26Q
556Lauren Boyle New Zealand8:25.91Q, NR
643Boglárka Kapás Hungary8:26.43Q
48Andreina Pinto VenezuelaQ, NR
842Coralie Balmy France8:27.15Q
953Shao Yiwen China8:27.78
1052Erika Villaecija García Spain8:27.99
1131Alexa Komarnycky Canada8:28.11
1233Wendy Trott South Africa8:28.98
1332Éva Risztov Hungary8:29.06
1447Kristel Köbrich Chile8:29.55
1551Savannah King Canada8:29.72
1658Cecilia Biagioli Argentina8:33.97NR
1724Julia Hassler Liechtenstein8:35.18NR
1846Kylie Palmer Australia8:35.75
1922Katya Bachrouche Lebanon8:35.88NR
2057Jessica Ashwood Australia8:37.21
2155Kate Ziegler United States8:37.38
2236Ellie Faulkner Great Britain8:38.00
2341Camelia Potec Romania8:38.44
2445Xin Xin China8:40.88
2525Tjaša Oder Slovenia8:41.82
2638Yelena Sokolova Russia8:42.73
2726Patricia Castañeda Miyamoto Mexico8:44.44
2823Nina Dittrich Austria8:45.41
2914Samantha Arevalo Ecuador8:49.21NR
3027Cai Lin Khoo Malaysia8:51.18
3121Lynette Lim Singapore8:52.92
3228Han Na-kyeong South Korea8:57.26
3315Pamela Benitez El Salvador9:02.66
3416Danielle van den Berg Aruba9:23.21
3513Simona Marinova Macedonia9:28.41
37Grainne Murphy IrelandDNS

Final
RankLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
3Katie Ledecky United States8:14.63AM
6Mireia Belmonte García Spain8:18.76NR
4Rebecca Adlington Great Britain8:20.32
42Lauren Boyle New Zealand8:22.72OC
55Lotte Friis Denmark8:23.86
67Boglárka Kapás Hungary8:23.89NR
78Coralie Balmy France8:29.26
81Andreina Pinto Venezuela8:29.28

References
  1. "Swimming: Results & Schedules". London 2012. NBC Olympics. 29 July 2012. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  2. Brennan, Christine (4 August 2012). "Katie Ledecky, 15, wins 800 free, breaks Janet Evans' record". USA Today. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  3. Harris, Beth (3 August 2012). "Olympics 2012: Bethesda's Katie Ledecky, 15, wins 800 free". Washington Times. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  4. White, Duncan (3 August 2012). "Rebecca Adlington has to settle for bronze in 800m freestyle as 15-year-old American Katie Ledecky wins gold". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  5. "2012 London Olympics: Katie Ledecky, 15, Rattles World Record With American Record Victory in 800 Free; Mireia Belmonte Garcia, Rebecca Adlington Complete Podium". Swimming World Magazine. 3 August 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  6. "Emotional Boyle 'proud' of fourth in 800m freestyle". TVNZ. 4 August 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  7. 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.
  8. "Adlington storms to second gold". BBC Sport. 16 August 2008. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  9. "Women's 800m Freestyle – Heats". London 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
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