Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's 400 metre freestyle
| Women's 400 metre freestyle at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad | ||||||||||
| Venue | Beijing National Aquatics Center | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | August 10, 2008 (heats) August 11, 2008 (final) | |||||||||
| Competitors | 42 from 35 nations | |||||||||
| Winning time | 4:03.22 | |||||||||
| Medalists | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| Swimming events at the 2008 Summer Olympics  | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freestyle | ||||
| 50 m | men | women | ||
| 100 m | men | women | ||
| 200 m | men | women | ||
| 400 m | men | women | ||
| 800 m | women | |||
| 1500 m | men | |||
| 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 | women | ||
| Marathon | ||||
| 10 km | men | women | ||
The women's 400 metre freestyle event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 10–11 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.[1]
Rebecca Adlington became Great Britain's first female gold medalist in swimming in 48 years.[2] She posted an outside-record time of 4:03.22 to hold off U.S. swimmer Katie Hoff in the final 50 metres with a 1.46-second deficit. Hoff added a silver to her hardware from the 400 m individual medley just a day earlier, in 4:03.29. Adlington's teammate Joanne Jackson earned a bronze in 4:03.52, handing an entire medal haul for Team GB in the pool.[3][4][5]
France's Coralie Balmy narrowly missed the podium by eight hundredths of a second (0.08), finishing in fourth place at 4:03.60. Italy's world record holder and top favorite Federica Pellegrini earned a fifth spot in a time of 4:04.56, holding off Romania's Camelia Potec to sixth by 0.10 of a second (4:04.66). Australia's Bronte Barratt (4:05.05) and defending Olympic champion Laure Manaudou (4:11.26).[3]
Notable swimmers missed out the top 8 final, featuring Poland's Otylia Jędrzejczak, silver medalist in Athens four years earlier, Hoff's teammate Kate Ziegler, and South Africa's Wendy Trott, who broke a new African record (4:08.38) in the heats.[6]
Earlier in the prelims, Pellegrini, Hoff, Jackson, and Adlington broke one of the oldest Olympic records in the book as they each went under the time of 4:03.85, which had stood since Janet Evans won the gold medal in the event at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.[6]
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows:
| World record |  Federica Pellegrini (ITA) | 4:01.53 | Eindhoven, Netherlands | 24 March 2008 |
| Olympic record |  Janet Evans (USA) | 4:03.85 | Seoul, South Korea | 22 September 1988 |
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 10 | Heat 5 | Katie Hoff | United States | 4:03.71 | OR |
| August 10 | Heat 6 | Federica Pellegrini | Italy | 4:02.19 | OR |
Results
Heats
Final
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 5 | Rebecca Adlington |  Great Britain | 4:03.22 | |
 | 3 | Katie Hoff | United States | 4:03.29 | AM |
 | 6 | Joanne Jackson | Great Britain | 4:03.52 | |
| 4 | 7 | Coralie Balmy |  France | 4:03.60 | |
| 5 | 4 | Federica Pellegrini | Italy | 4:04.56 | |
| 6 | 1 | Camelia Potec |  Romania | 4:04.66 | |
| 7 | 2 | Bronte Barratt |  Australia | 4:05.05 | |
| 8 | 8 | Laure Manaudou | France | 4:11.26 |
References
- ↑ "Olympic Swimming Schedule". USA Today. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
- ↑ "Adlington snatches swimming gold". BBC Sport. 11 August 2008. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
- 1 2 Lohn, John (10 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Rebecca Adlington Overtakes Katie Hoff for Gold in Women's 400 Free". Swimming World Magazine. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
- ↑ Kitson, Robert (11 August 2008). "Olympics: Rebecca Adlington wins gold for Britain in 400m freestyle". Guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
- ↑ Lonsbrough, Anita (11 August 2008). "Rebecca Adlington wins gold on a rewarding day for Britain – Beijing Olympics 2008". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
- 1 2 Lohn, John (10 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Olympic Record Falls Twice in Women's 400 Free, Federica Pellegrini Tops Qualifying". Swimming World Magazine. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
External links
| 300 m | |
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| 400 m |
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