| | Event type

50 metres Freestyle, Women

Date	26 July 1996
Status	Olympic
Location	Georgia Tech Aquatic Center, Atlanta, Georgia
Participants	55 from 47 countries

Le Jingyi of China had already won the 100 metres freestyle whilst America’s Amy Van Dyken had scored an upset victory in the 100 metres butterfly. The two women would meet again in the final of the 50 metres but could not count on having things all their own way as the final was a star-studded affair that included all the medalists from the 100 metre freestyle held earlier in the week.

Part of the ultra-competitive Van Dyken’s pre-race routine involved staring at her opponents in an attempt to intimidate them but this did not appear to work on the Chinese woman who went into the lead straight from the gun. For 45 metres Le held on to first place but in the closing metres Van Dyken accelerated past to win her third gold medal of the Games by just three hundredths of a second. Sandra Völker of Germany also won her third medal of the games by winning bronze in this race.

Pos	Swimmer	NOC	R1	B Final	Final
1	Amy Van Dyken	USA	25.12 (1 h6)	–	24.87 (1)	Gold
2	Le Jingyi	CHN	25.10 (1 h7)	–	24.90 (2)	Silver
3	Sandra Völker	GER	25.45 (2 h6)	–	25.14 (3)	Bronze
4	Angel Martino	USA	25.47 (1 h5)	–	25.31 (4)
5	Leah Martindale	BAR	25.76 (3 h5)	–	25.49 (5)
6	Linda Olofsson	SWE	25.84 (3 h6)	–	25.63 (6)
7	Shan Ying	CHN	25.71 (2 h5)	–	25.70 (7)
8	Nataliya Meshcheryakova	RUS	25.73 (2 h7)	–	25.88 (8)
9	Marianne Muis	NED	25.93 (4 h6)	25.74 (1)	–
10	Angela Postma	NED	26.00 (4 h7)	25.82 (2)	–
11	Claudia Franco	ESP	26.17 (5 h7)	26.04 (3)	–
12	Sumika Minamoto	JPN	25.89 (3 h7)	26.05 (4)	–
13	Yevgeniya Yermakova	KAZ	25.97 (5 h5)	26.06 (5)	–
14	Simone Osygus	GER	26.00 (5 h6)	26.16 (6)	–
15	Karen Van Wirdum	AUS	25.88 (4 h5)	26.17 (7)	–
16	Laura Petrutytė	LTU	26.13 (1 h4)	26.36 (8)	–
17	Vibeke Lambersøy Johansen	NOR	26.22 (2 h4)	–	–
18	Rania El-Wani	EGY	26.26 (6 h7)	–	–
19	Siobhan Cropper	TTO	26.29 (7 h7)	–	–
=20	Sarah Ryan	AUS	26.34 (6 h5)	–	–
=20	Judith Draxler	AUT	26.34 (3 h4)	–	–
=22	Blanca Cerón	ESP	26.39 (4 h4)	–	–
=22	Sue Rolph	GBR	26.39 (6 h6)	–	–
24	Marianne Kriel	RSA	26.42 (7 h5)	–	–
25	Metka Sparavec	SLO	26.43 (5 h4)	–	–
26	Martine Dessureault	CAN	26.44 (6 h4)	–	–
27	Luminița Dobrescu	ROU	26.47 (7 h6)	–	–
28	Mette Nørskov Nielsen	DEN	26.50 (7 h4)	–	–
=29	Casey Legler	FRA	26.52 (8 h4)	–	–
=29	Laura Nicholls	CAN	26.52 (8 h7)	–	–
31	Dita Želvienė	LTU	26.55 (8 h5)	–	–
32	Dominique Diezi	SUI	26.57 (1 h3)	–	–
33	Eileen Marie Coparropa	PAN	26.67 (2 h3)	–	–
34	Minna Salmela	FIN	26.72 (3 h3)	–	–
35	Alison Fitch	NZL	26.74 (1 h2)	–	–
36	Monica Dahl	NAM	26.76 (4 h3)	–	–
37	Elín Sigurðardóttir	ISL	26.90 (5 h3)	–	–
38	Lin Chien-Ju	TPE	27.00 (8 h6)	–	–
39	Valeria Álvarez	ARG	27.12 (6 h3)	–	–
40	Alena Popchanka	BLR	27.18 (1 h1)	–	–
41	Seo So-Yeong	KOR	27.30 (2 h2)	–	–
42	Gyöngyvér Lakos	HUN	27.34 (3 h2)	–	–
43	Teresa Moodie	ZIM	27.38 (4 h2)	–	–
44	Joscelin Yeo	SGP	27.51 (7 h3)	–	–
45	Duška Radan	SCG	27.62 (5 h2)	–	–
46	Gabrijela Ujčić	CRO	27.63 (6 h2)	–	–
47	Agnese Ozoliņa	LAT	27.65 (7 h2)	–	–
48	Sangeeta Puri	IND	28.02 (2 h1)	–	–
49	Verónica Prono	PAR	28.40 (3 h1)	–	–
50	Gail Rizzo	MLT	28.43 (4 h1)	–	–
51	Akiko Thomson	PHI	28.51 (8 h2)	–	–
52	Võ Trần Trương An	VIE	29.02 (5 h1)	–	–
53	Ingrid Louis	MRI	29.56 (6 h1)	–	–
54	Monika Bakale	CGO	34.43 (7 h1)	–	–
55	Nishma Gurung	NEP	41.45 (8 h1)	–	–
DNS	Tonia Machaira	GRE	– (DNS h3)	–	–

Round One (26 July 1996)

Fastest eight advanced to the final. Places 9-16 advanced to the B Final.

Heat One (11:00)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time	Reaction
1	5	Alena Popchanka	BLR	– (–) –	27.18	0.85
2	3	Sangeeta Puri	IND	– (–) –	28.02	0.80
3	2	Verónica Prono	PAR	– (–) –	28.40	0.77
4	4	Gail Rizzo	MLT	– (–) –	28.43	0.80
5	6	Võ Trần Trương An	VIE	– (–) –	29.02	0.78
6	7	Ingrid Louis	MRI	– (–) –	29.56	0.76
7	1	Monika Bakale	CGO	– (–) –	34.43	0.87
8	8	Nishma Gurung	NEP	– (–) –	41.45	1.34

Heat Two (11:06)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time	Reaction
1	4	Alison Fitch	NZL	– (–) –	26.74	0.80
2	1	Seo So-Yeong	KOR	– (–) –	27.30	0.73
3	2	Gyöngyvér Lakos	HUN	– (–) –	27.34	0.81
4	5	Teresa Moodie	ZIM	– (–) –	27.38	0.75
5	8	Duška Radan	SCG	– (–) –	27.62	0.82
6	3	Gabrijela Ujčić	CRO	– (–) –	27.63	0.75
7	7	Agnese Ozoliņa	LAT	– (–) –	27.65	0.79
8	6	Akiko Thomson	PHI	– (–) –	28.51	0.80

Heat Three (11:12)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time	Reaction
1	8	Dominique Diezi	SUI	– (–) –	26.57	0.86
2	2	Eileen Marie Coparropa	PAN	– (–) –	26.67	0.85
3	4	Minna Salmela	FIN	– (–) –	26.72	0.79
4	1	Monica Dahl	NAM	– (–) –	26.76	0.85
5	6	Elín Sigurðardóttir	ISL	– (–) –	26.90	0.80
6	5	Valeria Álvarez	ARG	– (–) –	27.12	0.74
7	3	Joscelin Yeo	SGP	– (–) –	27.51	0.82
DNS	7	Tonia Machaira	GRE	– (–) –	–	–

Heat Four (11:18)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time	Reaction
1	4	Laura Petrutytė	LTU	– (–) –	26.13	0.79	q
2	2	Vibeke Lambersøy Johansen	NOR	– (–) –	26.22	0.70
3	6	Judith Draxler	AUT	– (–) –	26.34	0.79
4	5	Blanca Cerón	ESP	– (–) –	26.39	0.69
5	7	Metka Sparavec	SLO	– (–) –	26.43	0.83
6	3	Martine Dessureault	CAN	– (–) –	26.44	0.75
7	8	Mette Nørskov Nielsen	DEN	– (–) –	26.50	0.76
8	1	Casey Legler	FRA	– (–) –	26.52	0.88

Heat Five (11:24)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time	Reaction
1	4	Angel Martino	USA	– (–) –	25.47	0.66	Q
2	5	Shan Ying	CHN	– (–) –	25.71	0.86	Q
3	6	Leah Martindale	BAR	– (–) –	25.76	0.81	Q
4	3	Karen Van Wirdum	AUS	– (–) –	25.88	0.75	q
5	7	Yevgeniya Yermakova	KAZ	– (–) –	25.97	0.75	q
6	2	Sarah Ryan	AUS	– (–) –	26.34	0.75
7	1	Marianne Kriel	RSA	– (–) –	26.42	0.74
8	8	Dita Želvienė	LTU	– (–) –	26.55	0.78

Heat Six (11:30)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time	Reaction
1	4	Amy Van Dyken	USA	– (–) –	25.12	0.72	Q
2	5	Sandra Völker	GER	– (–) –	25.45	0.87	Q
3	3	Linda Olofsson	SWE	– (–) –	25.84	0.80	Q
4	6	Marianne Muis	NED	– (–) –	25.93	0.74	q
5	2	Simone Osygus	GER	– (–) –	26.00	0.78	q
6	1	Sue Rolph	GBR	– (–) –	26.39	0.80
7	7	Luminița Dobrescu	ROU	– (–) –	26.47	0.80
8	8	Lin Chien-Ju	TPE	– (–) –	27.00	0.82

Heat Seven (11:36)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time	Reaction
1	4	Le Jingyi	CHN	– (–) –	25.10	0.81	Q
2	5	Nataliya Meshcheryakova	RUS	– (–) –	25.73	0.83	Q
3	3	Sumika Minamoto	JPN	– (–) –	25.89	0.72	q
4	6	Angela Postma	NED	– (–) –	26.00	0.76	q
5	7	Claudia Franco	ESP	– (–) –	26.17	0.78	q
6	1	Rania El-Wani	EGY	– (–) –	26.26	0.78
7	8	Siobhan Cropper	TTO	– (–) –	26.29	0.85
8	2	Laura Nicholls	CAN	– (–) –	26.52	0.72

B Final (26 July 1996 — 20:10)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time	Reaction
1	3	Marianne Muis	NED	– (–) –	25.74	0.76
2	2	Angela Postma	NED	– (–) –	25.82	0.80
3	8	Claudia Franco	ESP	– (–) –	26.04	0.77
4	5	Sumika Minamoto	JPN	– (–) –	26.05	0.76
5	6	Yevgeniya Yermakova	KAZ	– (–) –	26.06	0.80
6	7	Simone Osygus	GER	– (–) –	26.16	0.74
7	4	Karen Van Wirdum	AUS	– (–) –	26.17	0.76
8	1	Laura Petrutytė	LTU	– (–) –	26.36	0.81

Final (26 July 1996 — 20:00)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time	Reaction
1	5	Amy Van Dyken	USA	– (–) –	24.87	0.73
2	4	Le Jingyi	CHN	– (–) –	24.90	0.80
3	3	Sandra Völker	GER	– (–) –	25.14	0.86
4	6	Angel Martino	USA	– (–) –	25.31	0.75
5	1	Leah Martindale	BAR	– (–) –	25.49	0.85
6	8	Linda Olofsson	SWE	– (–) –	25.63	0.89
7	2	Shan Ying	CHN	– (–) –	25.70	1.01
8	7	Nataliya Meshcheryakova	RUS	– (–) –	25.88	0.83