| | Event type

100 metres Breaststroke, Men

Date	9 – 11 August 2008
Status	Olympic
Location	Beijing Guojia Youyong Zhongxin, Beijing Aolinpike Gongyuan, Beijing
Participants	64 from 52 countries

Between the two Olympic Games of 2004 and 2008 breaststroke swimming had turned into a personal duel between the man who had won both Olympic titles in Athens, Kosuke Kitajima of Japan, and America’s Brendan Hansen, who had beaten Kitajima in all their recent major championship clashes.

But before the competition started Kitajima became embroiled in a swimsuit controversy. Japanese swimming federation rules allowed swimsuits made by Japanese manufacturers to be used by the national team but team members were adamant that not using the new Speedo costumes would ruin their chances in Beijing. Some, including Kitajima, threatened to break ranks and wear the American-made costumes in defiance of the rules. The Japanese federation was forced to back down and allow the swimmers to use the new high tech suits.

Kitajima signaled his intentions by breaking the world record in a warm-up meet in June and was a clear favourite for the Olympic title on arrival in Beijing. His main rival proved not to be Hansen, who was not in the same form as previous years, but instead it was European champion Alexander Dale Oen of Norway. The Norwegian broke the Olympic record in both his heat and semi-final but the Japanese champion responded by breaking his own world record in the final to retain the Olympic final.

Dale Oen went on to win the World title in 2011 but his life came to a tragic end in May 2012. Shortly after training at altitude in Arizona he was discovered unconscious in his apartment shower, having suffered a cardiac arrest. Efforts to revive him proved fruitless and he passed away in Flagstaff Medical Centre.

Pos	Competitor	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	Kosuke Kitajima	JPN	59.52 (1 h8)	59.55 (1 h1)	58.91 (1)	Gold
2	Alexander Dale Oen	NOR	59.41 (1 h7)	59.16 (1 h2)	59.20 (2)	Silver
3	Hugues Duboscq	FRA	59.67 (1 h9)	59.83 (2 h2)	59.37 (3)	Bronze
4	Brendan Hansen	USA	1:00.36 (4 h9)	59.94 (3 h2)	59.57 (4)
5	Brenton Rickard	AUS	59.89 (2 h7)	59.65 (2 h1)	59.74 (5)
6	Roman Sludnov	RUS	1:00.20 (3 h9)	1:00.10 (4 h2)	59.87 (6)
7	Ihor Borysyk	UKR	1:00.31 (2 h8)	1:00.55 (4 h1)	1:00.20 (7)
8	Mark Gangloff	USA	1:00.71 (5 h8)	1:00.44 (3 h1)	1:00.24 (8)
9	Oleh Lisohor	UKR	1:00.65 (5 h7)	1:00.56 (5 h1)	–
10	Cameron van der Burgh	RSA	59.96 (3 h7)	1:00.57 (5 h2)	–
11	Mihail Aleksandrov	BUL	1:00.69 (3 h8)	1:00.61 (6 h1)	–
12	Giedrius Titenis	LTU	1:00.11 (2 h9)	1:00.66 (7 h1)	–
13	Yuta Suenaga	JPN	1:00.67 (5 h9)	1:00.67 (6 h2)	–
14	Christian Sprenger	AUS	1:00.36 (4 h7)	1:00.76 (8 h1)	–
15	Chris Cook	GBR	1:00.70 (4 h8)	1:00.81 (7 h2)	–
16	Damir Dugonjič	SLO	1:00.35 (1 h6)	1:00.92 (8 h2)	–
17	Vlad Polyakov	KAZ	1:00.80 (2 h6)	–	–
18	Hunor Mate	AUT	1:00.93 (1 h4)	–	–
19	Richárd Bodor	HUN	1:00.97 (6 h8)	–	–
=20	Mike Brown	CAN	1:00.98 (1 h5)	–	–
=20	Glenn Snyders	NZL	1:00.98 (7 h8)	–	–
22	Felipe França	BRA	1:01.04 (6 h7)	–	–
23	Henrique Barbosa	BRA	1:01.11 (7 h7)	–	–
=24	Matjaž Markič	SLO	1:01.31 (3 h6)	–	–
=24	Dániel Gyurta	HUN	1:01.31 (8 h7)	–	–
26	Thijs van Valkengoed	NED	1:01.32 (6 h9)	–	–
27	Kris Gilchrist	GBR	1:01.34 (7 h9)	–	–
28	Mathieu Bois	CAN	1:01.45 (4 h6)	–	–
29	Jiří Jedlička	CZE	1:01.56 (5 h6)	–	–
30	Andrew Bree	IRL	1:01.76 (2 h5)	–	–
=31	Valentin Preda	ROU	1:01.77 (=3 h5)	–	–
=31	Jonas Andersson	SWE	1:01.77 (=3 h5)	–	–
33	Daniel Vélez	PUR	1:01.80 (1 h3)	–	–
34	Dmitry Komornikov	RUS	1:01.82 (8 h8)	–	–
=35	Yevgeny Ryzhkov	KAZ	1:01.83 (5 h5)	–	–
=35	Borja Iradier	ESP	1:01.83 (6 h6)	–	–
37	Melki Álvarez	ESP	1:01.89 (7 h6)	–	–
38	Sandeep Sejwal	IND	1:02.19 (2 h3)	–	–
39	Demir Atasoy	TUR	1:02.25 (2 h4)	–	–
40	Čaba Silađi	SRB	1:02.31 (3 h4)	–	–
41	Genaro Prono	PAR	1:02.32 (3 h3)	–	–
=42	Tom Be'eri	ISR	1:02.42 (4 h4)	–	–
=42	Vanja Rogulj	CRO	1:02.42 (6 h5)	–	–
44	Sofiane Daid	ALG	1:02.45 (7 h5)	–	–
45	Martti Aljand	EST	1:02.46 (5 h4)	–	–
46	Xue Ruipeng	CHN	1:02.48 (6 h4)	–	–
47	Jakob Sveinsson	ISL	1:02.50 (7 h4)	–	–
48	Malick Fall	SEN	1:02.51 (4 h3)	–	–
49	Viktar Vabishchevich	BLR	1:03.29 (8 h5)	–	–
50	Romanos Alyfantis	GRE	1:03.39 (8 h9)	–	–
51	Alwin de Prins	LUX	1:03.64 (5 h3)	–	–
52	Sergio Ferreyra	ARG	1:03.65 (6 h3)	–	–
53	Édgar Crespo	PAN	1:03.72 (1 h2)	–	–
54	Sergiu Postică	MDA	1:03.83 (2 h2)	–	–
55	Andrei Cross	BAR	1:04.57 (7 h3)	–	–
56	Ivan Demyanenko	UZB	1:05.14 (8 h3)	–	–
57	Wael Koubrousli	LBN	1:06.22 (3 h2)	–	–
58	Nguyễn Hữu Việt	VIE	1:06.36 (4 h2)	–	–
59	Erik Rajohnson	MAD	1:08.42 (5 h2)	–	–
60	Boldbaataryn Bütekh-Üils	MGL	1:10.80 (6 h2)	–	–
61	Osama Alarag	QAT	1:10.83 (1 h1)	–	–
62	Mohammed Al-Habsi	OMA	1:12.28 (2 h1)	–	–
63	Petero Okotai	COK	1:20.20 (3 h1)	–	–
DQ	Alessandro Terrin	ITA	[1:01.03] (DQ h6)	–	–
DNS	Mohammad Ali Rezaei	IRI	– (DNS h4)	–	–

Round One

Date	9 August 2008
Format	Fastest 16 swimmers advanced to semi-finals

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Alexander Dale Oen	NOR	59.41	QOR
2	–	Kosuke Kitajima	JPN	59.52	Q
3	–	Hugues Duboscq	FRA	59.67	Q
4	–	Brenton Rickard	AUS	59.89	Q
5	–	Cameron van der Burgh	RSA	59.96	Q
6	–	Giedrius Titenis	LTU	1:00.11	Q
7	–	Roman Sludnov	RUS	1:00.20	Q
8	–	Ihor Borysyk	UKR	1:00.31	Q
9	–	Damir Dugonjič	SLO	1:00.35	Q
=10	–	Christian Sprenger	AUS	1:00.36	Q
=10	–	Brendan Hansen	USA	1:00.36	Q
12	–	Oleh Lisohor	UKR	1:00.65	Q
13	–	Yuta Suenaga	JPN	1:00.67	Q
14	–	Mihail Aleksandrov	BUL	1:00.69	Q
15	–	Chris Cook	GBR	1:00.70	Q
16	–	Mark Gangloff	USA	1:00.71	Q
17	–	Vlad Polyakov	KAZ	1:00.80
18	–	Hunor Mate	AUT	1:00.93
19	–	Richárd Bodor	HUN	1:00.97
=20	–	Mike Brown	CAN	1:00.98
=20	–	Glenn Snyders	NZL	1:00.98
22	–	Felipe França	BRA	1:01.04
23	–	Henrique Barbosa	BRA	1:01.11
=24	–	Matjaž Markič	SLO	1:01.31
=24	–	Dániel Gyurta	HUN	1:01.31
26	–	Thijs van Valkengoed	NED	1:01.32
27	–	Kris Gilchrist	GBR	1:01.34
28	–	Mathieu Bois	CAN	1:01.45
29	–	Jiří Jedlička	CZE	1:01.56
30	–	Andrew Bree	IRL	1:01.76
=31	–	Valentin Preda	ROU	1:01.77
=31	–	Jonas Andersson	SWE	1:01.77
33	–	Daniel Vélez	PUR	1:01.80
34	–	Dmitry Komornikov	RUS	1:01.82
=35	–	Yevgeny Ryzhkov	KAZ	1:01.83
=35	–	Borja Iradier	ESP	1:01.83
37	–	Melki Álvarez	ESP	1:01.89
38	–	Sandeep Sejwal	IND	1:02.19
39	–	Demir Atasoy	TUR	1:02.25
40	–	Čaba Silađi	SRB	1:02.31
41	–	Genaro Prono	PAR	1:02.32
=42	–	Tom Be'eri	ISR	1:02.42
=42	–	Vanja Rogulj	CRO	1:02.42
44	–	Sofiane Daid	ALG	1:02.45
45	–	Martti Aljand	EST	1:02.46
46	–	Xue Ruipeng	CHN	1:02.48
47	–	Jakob Sveinsson	ISL	1:02.50
48	–	Malick Fall	SEN	1:02.51
49	–	Viktar Vabishchevich	BLR	1:03.29
50	–	Romanos Alyfantis	GRE	1:03.39
51	–	Alwin de Prins	LUX	1:03.64
52	–	Sergio Ferreyra	ARG	1:03.65
53	–	Édgar Crespo	PAN	1:03.72
54	–	Sergiu Postică	MDA	1:03.83
55	–	Andrei Cross	BAR	1:04.57
56	–	Ivan Demyanenko	UZB	1:05.14
57	–	Wael Koubrousli	LBN	1:06.22
58	–	Nguyễn Hữu Việt	VIE	1:06.36
59	–	Erik Rajohnson	MAD	1:08.42
60	–	Boldbaataryn Bütekh-Üils	MGL	1:10.80
61	–	Osama Alarag	QAT	1:10.83
62	–	Mohammed Al-Habsi	OMA	1:12.28
63	–	Petero Okotai	COK	1:20.20
DQ	–	Alessandro Terrin	ITA	[1:01.03]		1
DNS	–	Mohammad Ali Rezaei	IRI	–

Heat #1

Time	20:23

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Osama Alarag	QAT	1:10.83	0.88	32.62 (1)	38.21 (1)
2	–	Mohammed Al-Habsi	OMA	1:12.28	0.86	33.92 (2)	38.36 (2)
3	–	Petero Okotai	COK	1:20.20	0.77	37.33 (3)	42.87 (3)

Heat #2

Time	20:26

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Édgar Crespo	PAN	1:03.72	0.73	29.33 (1)	34.39 (2)
2	–	Sergiu Postică	MDA	1:03.83	0.83	29.96 (2)	33.87 (1)
3	–	Wael Koubrousli	LBN	1:06.22	0.76	31.24 (3)	34.98 (4)
4	–	Nguyễn Hữu Việt	VIE	1:06.36	0.80	31.48 (4)	34.88 (3)
5	–	Erik Rajohnson	MAD	1:08.42	0.82	31.66 (5)	36.76 (5)
6	–	Boldbaataryn Bütekh-Üils	MGL	1:10.80	0.76	32.32 (6)	38.48 (6)

Heat #3

Time	20:29

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Daniel Vélez	PUR	1:01.80	0.77	29.99 (7)	31.81 (1)
2	–	Sandeep Sejwal	IND	1:02.19	0.86	29.08 (3)	33.11 (2)
3	–	Genaro Prono	PAR	1:02.32	0.80	29.04 (2)	33.28 (3)
4	–	Malick Fall	SEN	1:02.51	0.78	29.01 (1)	33.50 (4)
5	–	Alwin de Prins	LUX	1:03.64	0.78	30.09 (8)	33.55 (5)
6	–	Sergio Ferreyra	ARG	1:03.65	0.68	29.81 (6)	33.84 (6)
7	–	Andrei Cross	BAR	1:04.57	0.76	29.38 (4)	35.19 (7)
8	–	Ivan Demyanenko	UZB	1:05.14	0.71	29.55 (5)	35.59 (8)

Heat #4

Time	20:32

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Hunor Mate	AUT	1:00.93	0.72	29.23 (3)	31.70 (1)
2	–	Demir Atasoy	TUR	1:02.25	0.67	29.02 (1)	33.23 (6)
3	–	Čaba Silađi	SRB	1:02.31	0.78	29.56 (5)	32.75 (3)
4	–	Tom Be'eri	ISR	1:02.42	0.83	29.86 (7)	32.56 (2)
5	–	Martti Aljand	EST	1:02.46	0.67	29.42 (4)	33.04 (5)
6	–	Xue Ruipeng	CHN	1:02.48	0.76	29.69 (6)	32.79 (4)
7	–	Jakob Sveinsson	ISL	1:02.50	0.86	29.22 (2)	33.28 (7)
DNS	–	Mohammad Ali Rezaei	IRI	–	–	– (–)	–

Heat #5

Time	20:35

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Mike Brown	CAN	1:00.98	0.76	29.00 (2)	31.98 (1)
2	–	Andrew Bree	IRL	1:01.76	0.78	29.08 (4)	32.68 (4)
=3	–	Valentin Preda	ROU	1:01.77	0.78	28.58 (1)	33.19 (6)
=3	–	Jonas Andersson	SWE	1:01.77	0.67	29.11 (5)	32.66 (3)
5	–	Yevgeny Ryzhkov	KAZ	1:01.83	0.72	29.25 (6)	32.58 (2)
6	–	Vanja Rogulj	CRO	1:02.42	0.71	29.06 (3)	33.36 (7)
7	–	Sofiane Daid	ALG	1:02.45	0.76	29.69 (7)	32.76 (5)
8	–	Viktar Vabishchevich	BLR	1:03.29	0.70	29.89 (8)	33.40 (8)

Heat #6

Time	20:38

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Damir Dugonjič	SLO	1:00.35	0.88	28.41 (1)	31.94 (1)	Q
2	–	Vlad Polyakov	KAZ	1:00.80	0.73	28.62 (3)	32.18 (2)
3	–	Matjaž Markič	SLO	1:01.31	0.77	28.57 (2)	32.74 (7)
4	–	Mathieu Bois	CAN	1:01.45	0.71	29.14 (5)	32.31 (3)
5	–	Jiří Jedlička	CZE	1:01.56	0.72	29.08 (4)	32.48 (4)
6	–	Borja Iradier	ESP	1:01.83	0.80	29.31 (7)	32.52 (5)
7	–	Melki Álvarez	ESP	1:01.89	0.78	29.28 (6)	32.61 (6)
DQ	–	Alessandro Terrin	ITA	[1:01.03]	–	– (–)	–		2

Heat #7

Time	20:41

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Alexander Dale Oen	NOR	59.41	0.70	27.95 (1)	31.46 (1)	QOR
2	–	Brenton Rickard	AUS	59.89	0.84	28.19 (3)	31.70 (2)	Q
3	–	Cameron van der Burgh	RSA	59.96	0.65	28.12 (2)	31.84 (3)	Q
4	–	Christian Sprenger	AUS	1:00.36	0.76	28.33 (4)	32.03 (4)	Q
5	–	Oleh Lisohor	UKR	1:00.65	0.81	28.35 (5)	32.30 (7)	Q
6	–	Felipe França	BRA	1:01.04	0.74	28.52 (6)	32.52 (8)
7	–	Henrique Barbosa	BRA	1:01.11	0.76	28.86 (7)	32.25 (6)
8	–	Dániel Gyurta	HUN	1:01.31	0.79	29.24 (8)	32.07 (5)

Heat #8

Time	20:44

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Kosuke Kitajima	JPN	59.52	0.69	28.34 (3)	31.18 (1)	Q
2	–	Ihor Borysyk	UKR	1:00.31	0.85	28.12 (1)	32.19 (5)	Q
3	–	Mihail Aleksandrov	BUL	1:00.69	0.73	28.53 (5)	32.16 (4)	Q
4	–	Chris Cook	GBR	1:00.70	0.75	28.75 (6)	31.95 (2)	Q
5	–	Mark Gangloff	USA	1:00.71	0.80	28.26 (2)	32.45 (6)	Q
6	–	Richárd Bodor	HUN	1:00.97	0.77	28.85 (7)	32.12 (3)
7	–	Glenn Snyders	NZL	1:00.98	0.79	28.48 (4)	32.50 (7)
8	–	Dmitry Komornikov	RUS	1:01.82	0.77	29.27 (8)	32.55 (8)

Heat #9

Time	20:47

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Hugues Duboscq	FRA	59.67	0.72	28.51 (4)	31.16 (1)	Q
2	–	Giedrius Titenis	LTU	1:00.11	0.81	28.09 (1)	32.02 (5)	Q
3	–	Roman Sludnov	RUS	1:00.20	0.85	28.23 (2)	31.97 (4)	Q
4	–	Brendan Hansen	USA	1:00.36	0.70	28.50 (3)	31.86 (3)	Q
5	–	Yuta Suenaga	JPN	1:00.67	0.72	28.92 (5)	31.75 (2)	Q
6	–	Thijs van Valkengoed	NED	1:01.32	0.83	29.04 (6)	32.28 (7)
7	–	Kris Gilchrist	GBR	1:01.34	0.85	29.07 (7)	32.27 (6)
8	–	Romanos Alyfantis	GRE	1:03.39	0.77	29.70 (8)	33.69 (8)

Semi-Finals

Date	10 August 2008
Format	Fastest eight swimmers advanced to final

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Alexander Dale Oen	NOR	59.16	QOR
2	–	Kosuke Kitajima	JPN	59.55	Q
3	–	Brenton Rickard	AUS	59.65	Q
4	–	Hugues Duboscq	FRA	59.83	Q
5	–	Brendan Hansen	USA	59.94	Q
6	–	Roman Sludnov	RUS	1:00.10	Q
7	–	Mark Gangloff	USA	1:00.44	Q
8	–	Ihor Borysyk	UKR	1:00.55	Q
9	–	Oleh Lisohor	UKR	1:00.56
10	–	Cameron van der Burgh	RSA	1:00.57
11	–	Mihail Aleksandrov	BUL	1:00.61
12	–	Giedrius Titenis	LTU	1:00.66
13	–	Yuta Suenaga	JPN	1:00.67
14	–	Christian Sprenger	AUS	1:00.76
15	–	Chris Cook	GBR	1:00.81
16	–	Damir Dugonjič	SLO	1:00.92

Heat #1

Time	11:09

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Kosuke Kitajima	JPN	59.55	0.67	27.84 (1)	31.71 (2)	Q
2	–	Brenton Rickard	AUS	59.65	0.82	28.05 (2)	31.60 (1)	Q
3	–	Mark Gangloff	USA	1:00.44	0.69	28.42 (=5)	32.02 (4)	Q
4	–	Ihor Borysyk	UKR	1:00.55	0.80	28.46 (7)	32.09 (5)	Q
5	–	Oleh Lisohor	UKR	1:00.56	0.79	28.67 (8)	31.89 (3)
6	–	Mihail Aleksandrov	BUL	1:00.61	0.75	28.31 (4)	32.30 (6)
7	–	Giedrius Titenis	LTU	1:00.66	0.92	28.29 (3)	32.37 (8)
8	–	Christian Sprenger	AUS	1:00.76	0.72	28.42 (=5)	32.34 (7)

Heat #2

Time	11:14

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Alexander Dale Oen	NOR	59.16	0.72	28.03 (=1)	31.13 (2)	QOR
2	–	Hugues Duboscq	FRA	59.83	0.76	28.82 (=7)	31.01 (1)	Q
3	–	Brendan Hansen	USA	59.94	0.69	28.03 (=1)	31.91 (4)	Q
4	–	Roman Sludnov	RUS	1:00.10	0.74	28.05 (3)	32.05 (5)	Q
5	–	Cameron van der Burgh	RSA	1:00.57	0.76	28.20 (4)	32.37 (6)
6	–	Yuta Suenaga	JPN	1:00.67	0.73	28.82 (=7)	31.85 (3)
7	–	Chris Cook	GBR	1:00.81	0.71	28.40 (6)	32.41 (7)
8	–	Damir Dugonjič	SLO	1:00.92	0.79	28.29 (5)	32.63 (8)

Final Round

Date	11 August 2008 — 10:31

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Kosuke Kitajima	JPN	58.91	0.69	28.03 (3)	30.88 (1)	WR
2	–	Alexander Dale Oen	NOR	59.20	0.72	27.85 (1)	31.35 (3)
3	–	Hugues Duboscq	FRA	59.37	0.72	28.34 (7)	31.03 (2)
4	–	Brendan Hansen	USA	59.57	0.71	27.97 (2)	31.60 (5)
5	–	Brenton Rickard	AUS	59.74	0.96	28.04 (4)	31.70 (6)
6	–	Roman Sludnov	RUS	59.87	0.78	28.49 (8)	31.38 (4)
7	–	Ihor Borysyk	UKR	1:00.20	0.84	28.18 (6)	32.02 (7)
8	–	Mark Gangloff	USA	1:00.24	0.69	28.09 (5)	32.15 (8)