| | Event type

100 metres Breaststroke, Women

Date	21 July 1996
Status	Olympic
Location	Georgia Tech Aquatic Center, Atlanta, Georgia
Participants	46 from 38 countries

It had been 44 years since South Africa had won an Olympic gold medal but in Penny Heyns they had the woman who had set the world record four months earlier. Lined up against her were world champion Sam Riley of Australia and the precocious 14-year-old Amanda Beard of the USA. Riley nearly failed to make it to Atlanta when she failed a drug test in February 1996. Her coach had given her a painkiller to treat a headache without realizing it contained the banned substance dextropropoxyphen. She was subsequently issued only a warning but her coach received a one-year ban.

Heyns’ Olympic campaign started with a bang as she broke her own her world record to qualify for the final but faltered when she made a basic error in the final where she badly mistimed her turn. Beard threatened to take the lead over the home stretch but Heyns fought back and reached the wall with a third of a second to spare over her American rival to the acclaim of her home nation. Riley finished a distant third.

Pos	Swimmer	NOC	R1	B Final	Final
1	Penny Heyns	RSA	1:07.02 (1 h6)	–	1:07.73 (1)	Gold
2	Amanda Beard	USA	1:09.04 (1 h5)	–	1:08.09 (2)	Silver
3	Sam Riley	AUS	1:09.37 (2 h5)	–	1:09.18 (3)	Bronze
4	Svitlana Bondarenko	UKR	1:09.79 (3 h4)	–	1:09.21 (4)
5	Vera Lischka	AUT	1:09.68 (2 h4)	–	1:09.24 (5)
6	Guylaine Cloutier	CAN	1:09.72 (3 h5)	–	1:09.40 (6)
7	Ágnes Kovács	HUN	1:09.05 (1 h4)	–	1:09.55 (7)
8	Brigitte Becue	BEL	1:09.83 (2 h6)	–	1:09.79 (8)
9	Han Xue	CHN	1:10.40 (4 h4)	1:09.90 (1)	–
10	Lisa Flood	CAN	1:10.26 (5 h5)	1:10.21 (2)	–
11	Helen Denman	AUS	1:10.64 (5 h4)	1:10.26 (3)	–
12	Elin Austevoll	NOR	1:09.96 (3 h6)	1:10.27 (4)	–
13	Masami Tanaka	JPN	1:09.89 (4 h5)	1:10.43 (5)	–
14	Alicja Pęczak	POL	1:10.70 (1 h3)	1:10.44 (6)	–
15	Manuela Dalla Valle	ITA	1:10.25 (4 h6)	1:11.19 (7)	–
16	Hanna Jaltner	SWE	1:10.69 (6 h4)	1:11.41 (8)	–
17	Jaime King	GBR	1:10.83 (6 h5)	–	–
18	Julia Russell	RSA	1:10.87 (7 h5)	–	–
19	Kristine Quance	USA	1:10.92 (5 h6)	–	–
20	Terrie Miller	NOR	1:11.09 (6 h6)	–	–
21	Madelon Baans	NED	1:11.17 (7 h6)	–	–
22	Kyoko Iwasaki	JPN	1:11.33 (7 h4)	–	–
23	Maria Östling	SWE	1:11.58 (8 h4)	–	–
24	Yuan Yuan	CHN	1:11.65 (8 h6)	–	–
25	Karine Brémond	FRA	1:11.80 (8 h5)	–	–
26	Kathrin Dumitru	GER	1:11.92 (2 h3)	–	–
27	Olga Landik	RUS	1:12.55 (3 h3)	–	–
28	María Olay	ESP	1:12.58 (4 h3)	–	–
29	Lenka Maňhalová	CZE	1:12.72 (1 h2)	–	–
30	Byeon Hye-Yeong	KOR	1:12.85 (1 h1)	–	–
31	Anna Wilson	NZL	1:12.93 (5 h3)	–	–
32	Mia Hagman	FIN	1:13.01 (2 h2)	–	–
33	Alena Rudkouskaya	BLR	1:13.71 (6 h3)	–	–
34	Joana Soutinho	POR	1:13.73 (3 h2)	–	–
35	Larisa Lăcusță	ROU	1:13.91 (7 h3)	–	–
36	Tay Li Leng	MAS	1:14.17 (2 h1)	–	–
37	Natália Kodajová	SVK	1:14.24 (4 h2)	–	–
38	Isabel Ceballos	COL	1:14.75 (3 h1)	–	–
39	Mou Ying-Hsin	TPE	1:14.82 (5 h2)	–	–
40	Joscelin Yeo	SGP	1:14.90 (8 h3)	–	–
41	Snowie Pang	HKG	1:16.02 (4 h1)	–	–
42	María Carolina Santa Cruz	ARG	1:16.19 (6 h2)	–	–
43	Nádia Cruz	ANG	1:16.62 (7 h2)	–	–
44	Cerian Gibbes	TTO	1:16.99 (8 h2)	–	–
45	Anush Manukyan	ARM	1:20.70 (5 h1)	–	–
46	Hem Raksmey	CAM	1:44.68 (6 h1)	–	–

Round One (21 July 1996)

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

Heat One (11:00)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Reaction
1	3	Byeon Hye-Yeong	KOR	35.67 (4) 37.18 (1)	1:12.85	0.80
2	6	Tay Li Leng	MAS	35.37 (2) 38.80 (2)	1:14.17	0.81
3	5	Isabel Ceballos	COL	35.19 (1) 39.56 (3)	1:14.75	0.85
4	4	Snowie Pang	HKG	35.58 (3) 40.44 (4)	1:16.02	0.78
5	2	Anush Manukyan	ARM	36.93 (5) 43.77 (5)	1:20.70	0.82
6	7	Hem Raksmey	CAM	48.57 (6) 56.11 (6)	1:44.68	1.12

Heat Two (11:08)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Reaction
1	3	Lenka Maňhalová	CZE	34.23 (1) 38.49 (2)	1:12.72	0.81
2	6	Mia Hagman	FIN	34.91 (3) 38.10 (1)	1:13.01	0.91
3	4	Joana Soutinho	POR	34.65 (2) 39.08 (3)	1:13.73	0.81
4	2	Natália Kodajová	SVK	34.99 (4) 39.25 (5)	1:14.24	0.90
5	5	Mou Ying-Hsin	TPE	35.62 (6) 39.20 (4)	1:14.82	0.88
6	1	María Carolina Santa Cruz	ARG	36.71 (8) 39.48 (6)	1:16.19	0.82
7	8	Nádia Cruz	ANG	35.35 (5) 41.27 (8)	1:16.62	0.79
8	7	Cerian Gibbes	TTO	36.22 (7) 40.77 (7)	1:16.99	0.83

Heat Three (11:16)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Reaction
1	6	Alicja Pęczak	POL	33.51 (1) 37.19 (1)	1:10.70	0.82	q
2	5	Kathrin Dumitru	GER	34.33 (4) 37.59 (2)	1:11.92	0.83
3	7	Olga Landik	RUS	34.24 (3) 38.31 (4)	1:12.55	0.87
4	2	María Olay	ESP	34.41 (5) 38.17 (3)	1:12.58	0.82
5	3	Anna Wilson	NZL	33.73 (2) 39.20 (7)	1:12.93	0.89
6	8	Alena Rudkouskaya	BLR	34.70 (7) 39.01 (6)	1:13.71	0.84
7	4	Larisa Lăcusță	ROU	34.59 (6) 39.32 (8)	1:13.91	0.91
8	1	Joscelin Yeo	SGP	36.26 (8) 38.64 (5)	1:14.90	0.79

Heat Four (11:24)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Reaction
1	6	Ágnes Kovács	HUN	32.60 (2) 36.45 (1)	1:09.05	0.80	Q
2	7	Vera Lischka	AUT	32.22 (1) 37.46 (5)	1:09.68	0.84	Q
3	4	Svitlana Bondarenko	UKR	32.95 (4) 36.84 (2)	1:09.79	0.84	Q
4	3	Han Xue	CHN	33.07 (5) 37.33 (4)	1:10.40	0.79	q
5	5	Helen Denman	AUS	32.86 (3) 37.78 (7)	1:10.64	0.83	q
6	1	Hanna Jaltner	SWE	33.22 (6) 37.47 (6)	1:10.69	0.83	q
7	2	Kyoko Iwasaki	JPN	34.30 (8) 37.03 (3)	1:11.33	0.72
8	8	Maria Östling	SWE	33.38 (7) 38.20 (8)	1:11.58	0.78

Heat Five (11:32)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Reaction
1	4	Amanda Beard	USA	33.13 (=2) 35.91 (1)	1:09.04	0.77	Q
2	3	Sam Riley	AUS	33.01 (1) 36.36 (2)	1:09.37	0.81	Q
3	5	Guylaine Cloutier	CAN	33.13 (=2) 36.59 (3)	1:09.72	0.78	Q
4	2	Masami Tanaka	JPN	33.24 (5) 36.65 (4)	1:09.89	0.77	q
5	6	Lisa Flood	CAN	33.40 (7) 36.86 (5)	1:10.26	0.92	q
6	7	Jaime King	GBR	33.16 (4) 37.67 (8)	1:10.83	0.97
7	1	Julia Russell	RSA	33.38 (6) 37.49 (7)	1:10.87	0.79
8	8	Karine Brémond	FRA	34.58 (8) 37.22 (6)	1:11.80	1.00

Heat Six (11:40)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Reaction
1	4	Penny Heyns	RSA	31.65 (1) 35.37 (1)	1:07.02	0.83	QWR
2	5	Brigitte Becue	BEL	33.08 (3) 36.75 (2)	1:09.83	0.73	Q
3	1	Elin Austevoll	NOR	33.12 (4) 36.84 (3)	1:09.96	0.87	q
4	7	Manuela Dalla Valle	ITA	32.98 (2) 37.27 (5)	1:10.25	0.78	q
5	3	Kristine Quance	USA	33.37 (6) 37.55 (6)	1:10.92	0.85
6	2	Terrie Miller	NOR	33.46 (7) 37.63 (7)	1:11.09	0.81
7	8	Madelon Baans	NED	33.33 (5) 37.84 (8)	1:11.17	0.89
8	6	Yuan Yuan	CHN	34.46 (8) 37.19 (4)	1:11.65	0.77

B Final (21 July 1996 — 20:26)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Reaction
1	2	Han Xue	CHN	32.41 (1) 37.49 (6)	1:09.90	0.80
2	6	Lisa Flood	CAN	33.35 (6) 36.86 (1)	1:10.21	0.84
3	7	Helen Denman	AUS	32.90 (2) 37.36 (5)	1:10.26	0.84
4	5	Elin Austevoll	NOR	33.17 (4) 37.10 (2)	1:10.27	0.77
5	4	Masami Tanaka	JPN	33.20 (5) 37.23 (3)	1:10.43	0.74
6	8	Alicja Pęczak	POL	33.11 (3) 37.33 (4)	1:10.44	0.81
7	3	Manuela Dalla Valle	ITA	33.56 (7) 37.63 (7)	1:11.19	0.72
8	1	Hanna Jaltner	SWE	33.70 (8) 37.71 (8)	1:11.41	0.86

Final (21 July 1996 — 20:20)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Reaction
1	4	Penny Heyns	RSA	31.65 (1) 36.08 (2)	1:07.73	0.81
2	5	Amanda Beard	USA	32.71 (7) 35.38 (1)	1:08.09	0.78
3	6	Sam Riley	AUS	32.09 (3) 37.09 (7)	1:09.18	0.73
4	1	Svitlana Bondarenko	UKR	32.61 (5) 36.60 (3)	1:09.21	0.86
5	2	Vera Lischka	AUT	31.93 (2) 37.31 (8)	1:09.24	0.80
6	7	Guylaine Cloutier	CAN	32.58 (4) 36.82 (5)	1:09.40	0.73
7	3	Ágnes Kovács	HUN	32.68 (6) 36.87 (6)	1:09.55	0.82
8	8	Brigitte Becue	BEL	33.02 (8) 36.77 (4)	1:09.79	0.71