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| Event type

100 metres Butterfly, Men

Date14 – 16 August 2008
StatusOlympic
LocationBeijing Guojia Youyong Zhongxin, Beijing Aolinpike Gongyuan, Beijing
Participants65 from 51 countries

With six gold medals in the bag and just two to win for a perfect eight out of eight record at the 2008 Olympic Games, Michael Phelps arrived at the race which swimming experts considered the one he was most likely to lose. The 100 metre butterfly was the only race in which he competed in Beijing where he did not hold the current world record. In fact he was not even the fastest American in the field as that honour was held by world record holder Ian Crocker. Despite the presence of Crocker and Serbia’s Milorad Čavić, Phelps’ previous performances at the 2008 Games were such that he was still considered a hot favourite.

The final was a race of two distinct halves. Over the first 50 m Milorad Čavić pulled out a big lead and with Phelps trailing back in seventh it appeared that his ambition to have a perfect Olympics was lost. The final 50 metres saw a monumental effort from Phelps to get back on terms with the Serbian but as both men reached for the wall on their final strokes it appeared Čavić still held a narrow lead. The crowd and media looked up at the scoreboard in anticipation of a Serbian victory but instead it was Phelps’ name that flashed up on the scoreboard as champion. Television replays indicated that Phelps’ final stroke had been timed to perfection whilst Čavić’s finish was a little more sloppy in its execution. It may even have been that whilst Čavić had reached the touchpads before Phelps he had not provided the minimum 3 kgs of pressure required to trigger the mechanism. Some people pointed to the fact that Omega, the official timekeepers to the Olympic movement, were also personal sponsors to the American champion but nobody provided any evidence to support their complaints. A protest was put in by the Serbian team management but it was overruled after a review.

PosSwimmerNOCR1SFFinal
1Michael PhelpsUSA50.87 (2 h9)50.97 (1 h1)50.58 (1)Gold
2Milorad ČavićSRB50.76 (1 h9)50.92 (1 h2)50.59 (2)Silver
3Andrew LautersteinAUS51.37 (2 h7)51.27 (2 h1)51.12 (3)Bronze
4Ian CrockerUSA51.95 (3 h8)51.27 (2 h2)51.13 (4)
5Jason DunfordKEN51.14 (1 h7)51.33 (3 h1)51.47 (5)
6Takuro FujiiJPN51.50 (3 h7)51.59 (4 h2)51.50 (6)
7Andriy SerdinovUKR51.10 (3 h9)51.41 (3 h2)51.59 (7)
8Ryan PiniPNG52.00 (5 h7)51.62 (4 h1)51.86 (8)
9Shi FengCHN51.87 (2 h6)51.68 (5 h1)
10Peter MankočSLO51.24 (4 h9)51.80 (5 h2)
11Albert SubiratsVEN51.71 (1 h8)51.82 (6 h1)
12Corney SwanepoelNZL51.78 (2 h8)52.01 (6 h2)
13Serhiy BreusUKR51.82 (1 h6)52.05 (7 h1)
14Lyndon FernsRSA52.04 (1 h5)52.18 (7 h2)
15 Kaio MárcioBRA52.05 (5 h9)52.32 (8 h1)
16Fréd BousquetFRA51.83 (4 h7)52.94 (8 h2)
17Adam PineAUS52.07 (4 h8)
18Lars FrölanderSWE52.15 (3 h6)
19Jakob AndkjærDEN52.24 (1 h4)
=20Mario TodorovićCRO52.26 (2 h5)
=20Nikolay SkvortsovRUS52.26 (6 h7)
=20Robin van AggeleNED52.26 (6 h9)
23Gabriel MangabeiraBRA52.28 (5 h8)
24Yevgeny KorotyshkinRUS52.30 (6 h8)
25Sotirios PastrasGRE52.41 (2 h4)
26Masayuki KishidaJPN52.45 (7 h9)
27Michael RockGBR52.48 (4 h6)
28Ștefan GherghelROU52.50 (3 h4)
29Todd CooperGBR52.52 (5 h6)
30Rafa MuñozESP52.53 (7 h8)
31Christophe LebonFRA52.56 (8 h8)
32Moss BurmesterNZL52.67 (6 h6)
33Simão MorgadoPOR52.80 (3 h5)
=34Rimvydas ŠalčiusLTU52.90 (1 h3)
=34Joe BartochCAN52.90 (7 h7)
36Alon MandelISR52.99 (2 h3)
37François HeersbrandtBEL53.33 (4 h5)
38Douglas Lennox-SilvaPUR53.34 (5 h5)
39Adam SiouiCAN53.38 (6 h5)
40Ivan LenđerSRB53.41 (7 h5)
41Benjamin StarkeGER53.50 (8 h9)
42Michal RubáčekCZE53.53 (4 h4)
43Yauhen LazukaBLR53.54 (8 h5)
44Thomas RupprathGER53.56 (8 h7)
=45Juan VelozMEX53.58 (5 h4)
=45Octavio AlesiVEN53.58 (7 h6)
47Aleksej PuninskiCRO53.65 (8 h6)
48Ryan GambinMLT53.70 (6 h4)
49Jeremy KnowlesBAH53.72 (3 h3)
50Ádám MadarassyHUN53.93 (4 h3)
51Shaune FraserCAY54.08 (1 h2)
52Hjörtur Már ReynissonISL54.17 (5 h3)
53Camilo BecerraCOL54.27 (6 h3)
54Daniel BegoMAS54.38 (2 h2)
55Gordon Touw Ngie TjouwSUR54.54 (3 h2)
56Rustam KhudiyevKAZ54.62 (4 h2)
57Ankur PoseriaIND54.74 (7 h4)
58Onur UrasTUR54.79 (7 h3)
59Andrejs DūdaLAT55.20 (1 h1)
60Georgi PalazovBUL55.25 (8 h3)
=61Bader Al-MuhanaKSA55.59 (=5 h2)
=61Ahmed SalahEGY55.59 (=5 h2)
63João MatiasANG57.06 (2 h1)
64Nedim NišićBIH57.16 (7 h2)
65Marco CamargoECU57.48 (3 h1)
DNSMattia NalessoITA– (DNS h4)

Round One (14 August 2008)

Fastest 16 swimmers advanced to semi-finals

Heat One (19:57)

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTimeReaction
13Andrejs DūdaLAT55.200.68
24João MatiasANG57.060.73
35Marco CamargoECU57.480.69

Heat Two (19:59)

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTimeReaction
15Shaune FraserCAY54.080.74
24Daniel BegoMAS54.380.64
32Gordon Touw Ngie TjouwSUR54.540.76
46Rustam KhudiyevKAZ54.620.73
=51Bader Al-MuhanaKSA55.590.70
=53Ahmed SalahEGY55.590.86
77Nedim NišićBIH57.160.77

Heat Three (20:02)

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTimeReaction
12Rimvydas ŠalčiusLTU52.900.77
24Alon MandelISR52.990.79
33Jeremy KnowlesBAH53.720.72
41Ádám MadarassyHUN53.930.69
58Hjörtur Már ReynissonISL54.170.79
67Camilo BecerraCOL54.270.72
75Onur UrasTUR54.790.73
86Georgi PalazovBUL55.250.89

Heat Four (20:04)

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTimeReaction
13Jakob AndkjærDEN52.240.81
24Sotirios PastrasGRE52.410.70
36Ștefan GherghelROU52.500.73
41Michal RubáčekCZE53.530.74
52Juan VelozMEX53.580.74
68Ryan GambinMLT53.700.72
77Ankur PoseriaIND54.740.77
DNS5Mattia NalessoITA

Heat Five (20:08)

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTimeReaction
13Lyndon FernsRSA52.040.77Q
25Mario TodorovićCRO52.260.72
31Simão MorgadoPOR52.800.66
42François HeersbrandtBEL53.330.74
58Douglas Lennox-SilvaPUR53.340.64
66Adam SiouiCAN53.380.79
74Ivan LenđerSRB53.410.81
87Yauhen LazukaBLR53.540.73

Heat Six (20:11)

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTimeReaction
12Serhiy BreusUKR51.820.71Q
28Shi FengCHN51.870.73Q
36Lars FrölanderSWE52.150.72
44Michael RockGBR52.480.65
55Todd CooperGBR52.520.68
63Moss BurmesterNZL52.670.71
77Octavio AlesiVEN53.580.59
81Aleksej PuninskiCRO53.650.70

Heat Seven (20:14)

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTimeReaction
15Jason DunfordKEN51.140.70QOR
23Andrew LautersteinAUS51.370.83Q
37Takuro FujiiJPN51.500.68Q
44Fréd BousquetFRA51.830.77Q
52Ryan PiniPNG52.000.78Q
61Nikolay SkvortsovRUS52.260.76
78Joe BartochCAN52.900.74
86Thomas RupprathGER53.560.67

Heat Eight (20:16)

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTimeReaction
15Albert SubiratsVEN51.710.74Q
21Corney SwanepoelNZL51.780.68Q
34Ian CrockerUSA51.950.71Q
47Adam PineAUS52.070.73
56Gabriel MangabeiraBRA52.280.65
63Yevgeny KorotyshkinRUS52.300.80
72Rafa MuñozESP52.530.77
88Christophe LebonFRA52.560.83

Heat Nine (20:19)

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTimeReaction
15Milorad ČavićSRB50.760.78QOR
24Michael PhelpsUSA50.870.70Q
37Andriy SerdinovUKR51.100.72Q
42Peter MankočSLO51.240.71Q
56 Kaio MárcioBRA52.050.67Q
61Robin van AggeleNED52.260.75
73Masayuki KishidaJPN52.450.67
88Benjamin StarkeGER53.500.75

Semi-Finals (15 August 2008)

Fastest eight swimmers advanced to final

Heat One (11:26)

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTimeReaction
14Michael PhelpsUSA50.970.72Q
23Andrew LautersteinAUS51.270.76Q
35Jason DunfordKEN51.330.71Q
41Ryan PiniPNG51.620.82Q
57Shi FengCHN51.680.73
66Albert SubiratsVEN51.820.73
72Serhiy BreusUKR52.050.75
88 Kaio MárcioBRA52.320.67

Heat Two (11:30)

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTimeReaction
14Milorad ČavićSRB50.920.80Q
21Ian CrockerUSA51.270.72Q
35Andriy SerdinovUKR51.410.73Q
46Takuro FujiiJPN51.590.69Q
53Peter MankočSLO51.800.78
62Corney SwanepoelNZL52.010.68
78Lyndon FernsRSA52.180.67
87Fréd BousquetFRA52.940.73

Final (16 August 2008 — 10:10)

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTimeReaction
15Michael PhelpsUSA50.580.71OR
24Milorad ČavićSRB50.590.76
33Andrew LautersteinAUS51.120.76
46Ian CrockerUSA51.130.73
52Jason DunfordKEN51.470.70
61Takuro FujiiJPN51.500.69
77Andriy SerdinovUKR51.590.72
88Ryan PiniPNG51.860.78