| | Event type

50 metres Freestyle, Men

Date	25 July 1996
Status	Olympic
Location	Georgia Tech Aquatic Center, Atlanta, Georgia
Participants	64 from 58 countries

In 1992 Aleksandr Popov was an outsider to win an Olympic title but things were very different when he came to defend the two gold medals in Atlanta. The four years between Olympics had been good for Popov and he was undefeated in major championships at both 50 and 100 metres freestyle since the Barcelona Games.

Popov’s main danger for the gold medal was Gary Hall, Jr. and the two men enjoyed a fierce rivalry and regularly swapped insults through newspaper interviews. The Russian had already defeated Hall in the 100 metres freestyle and repeated the feat in the shorter event. For 40 metres Popov and Hall were level but the defending champion finished the quicker and won by 0.13 of a second.

The bronze medalist, Xuxa Scherer of Brazil, was one of three men who tied for the seventh qualifying place for the final and only qualified via a swim-off.

Pos	Swimmer	NOC	R1	B Final	Final
1	Aleksandr Popov	RUS	22.22 (1 h9)	–	22.13 (1)	Gold
2	Gary Hall, Jr.	USA	22.36 (1 h8)	–	22.26 (2)	Silver
3	Xuxa Scherer	BRA	22.68 (3 h8)	–	22.29 (3)	Bronze
4	Jiang Chengji	CHN	22.55 (1 h7)	–	22.33 (4)
5	Brendon Dedekind	RSA	22.60 (2 h8)	–	22.59 (5)
6	David Fox	USA	22.64 (2 h9)	–	22.68 (6)
7	Francisco Sánchez	VEN	22.68 (=2 h7)	–	22.72 (7)
8	Ricardo Busquets	PUR	22.61 (1 h6)	–	22.73 (8)
9	Pieter van den Hoogenband	NED	22.82 (4 h9)	22.67 (1)	–
10	Bengt Zikarsky	GER	22.68 (=2 h7)	22.73 (2)	–
11	Yuriy Vlasov	UKR	22.77 (5 h8)	22.82 (3)	–
=12	Allan Murray	BAH	22.75 (3 h9)	22.92 (=4)	–
=12	Gustavo Borges	BRA	22.86 (5 h9)	22.92 (=4)	–
=14	Christophe Kalfayan	FRA	22.83 (6 h8)	22.96 (=6)	–
=14	René Gusperti	ITA	22.85 (4 h7)	22.96 (=6)	–
16	Mark Foster	GBR	22.73 (4 h8)	23.01 (8)	–
17	Pavlo Khnykin	UKR	22.91 (5 h7)	–	–
=18	Chris Fydler	AUS	22.98 (6 h9)	–	–
=18	Raimundas Mažuolis	LTU	22.98 (6 h7)	–	–
20	Vladimir Predkin	RUS	23.03 (7 h8)	–	–
21	Alexander Lüderitz	GER	23.06 (7 h7)	–	–
22	Aleh Rukhlevich	BLR	23.12 (7 h9)	–	–
23	José Meolans	ARG	23.21 (8 h7)	–	–
24	Yoav Bruck	ISR	23.22 (8 h9)	–	–
25	Felipe Delgado	ECU	23.26 (2 h6)	–	–
=26	Indrek Sei	EST	23.29 (=3 h6)	–	–
=26	Sergey Borisenko	KAZ	23.29 (=3 h6)	–	–
28	Bartosz Kizierowski	POL	23.34 (5 h6)	–	–
29	Sion Brinn	JAM	23.35 (1 h5)	–	–
30	Juan Benavides	ESP	23.36 (6 h6)	–	–
31	Stavros Michailidis	CYP	23.37 (2 h5)	–	–
32	Enrico Linscheer	SUR	23.45 (3 h5)	–	–
33	Pär Lindström	SWE	23.47 (7 h6)	–	–
34	Georgios Giziotis	GRE	23.56 (8 h6)	–	–
35	Yukihiro Matsushita	JPN	23.60 (1 h4)	–	–
=36	Salim Iles	ALG	23.61 (=2 h4)	–	–
=36	Dzmitry Kalinovski	BLR	23.61 (8 h8)	–	–
=36	Janne Blomqvist	FIN	23.61 (=2 h4)	–	–
39	Hugues Legault	CAN	23.63 (4 h5)	–	–
=40	Nick Tongue	NZL	23.73 (1 h3)	–	–
=40	Paulo Trindade	POR	23.73 (5 h5)	–	–
42	Arthur Li	HKG	23.77 (2 h3)	–	–
43	Maxim Cazmirciuc	MDA	23.78 (3 h3)	–	–
44	Richard Bera	INA	23.80 (6 h5)	–	–
45	Ravil Nachayev	UZB	23.93 (4 h4)	–	–
46	Darrick Bollinger	GUM	23.97 (4 h3)	–	–
47	Tamer Zinhom	EGY	24.02 (5 h4)	–	–
48	Nick O'Hare	IRL	24.03 (7 h5)	–	–
49	Sebastian Xavier	IND	24.15 (6 h4)	–	–
50	Alen Lončar	CRO	24.17 (7 h4)	–	–
51	Kaan Berberoğlu	TUR	24.37 (5 h3)	–	–
52	Vitaly Vasilyev	KGZ	24.54 (8 h4)	–	–
53	Khemo Rivera	ISV	24.62 (1 h2)	–	–
54	Howard Hinds	AHO	24.63 (2 h2)	–	–
55	Tamás Kerékjártó	HUN	24.67 (6 h3)	–	–
56	Huang Chih-Yung	TPE	24.89 (3 h2)	–	–
57	Alfredo Carrillo	PAR	24.91 (4 h2)	–	–
58	Sng Ju Wei	SGP	25.04 (7 h3)	–	–
59	Emin Quliyev	AZE	25.23 (8 h3)	–	–
60	Woody Lawrence	DMA	27.88 (1 h1)	–	–
61	Moosa Nazim	MDV	28.37 (2 h1)	–	–
62	René Makosso	CGO	30.00 (3 h1)	–	–
63	Michael Collier	SLE	34.21 (5 h2)	–	–
DQ	Alexandru Ioanovici	ROU	– (DQ h5)	–	–
DNS	Musa Bakare	NGR	– (DNS h2)	–	–

Round One (25 July 1996)

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

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time	Reaction
1	4	Woody Lawrence	DMA	– (–) –	27.88	1.01
2	5	Moosa Nazim	MDV	– (–) –	28.37	0.72
3	3	René Makosso	CGO	– (–) –	30.00	0.87

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time	Reaction
1	6	Khemo Rivera	ISV	– (–) –	24.62	0.80
2	3	Howard Hinds	AHO	– (–) –	24.63	0.80
3	5	Huang Chih-Yung	TPE	– (–) –	24.89	0.73
4	2	Alfredo Carrillo	PAR	– (–) –	24.91	0.83
5	1	Michael Collier	SLE	– (–) –	34.21	0.86
DNS	4	Musa Bakare	NGR	– (–) –	–	–

Heat Three

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time	Reaction
1	3	Nick Tongue	NZL	– (–) –	23.73	0.75
2	4	Arthur Li	HKG	– (–) –	23.77	0.75
3	5	Maxim Cazmirciuc	MDA	– (–) –	23.78	0.75
4	6	Darrick Bollinger	GUM	– (–) –	23.97	0.77
5	2	Kaan Berberoğlu	TUR	– (–) –	24.37	0.77
6	1	Tamás Kerékjártó	HUN	– (–) –	24.67	0.75
7	8	Sng Ju Wei	SGP	– (–) –	25.04	0.82
8	7	Emin Quliyev	AZE	– (–) –	25.23	0.74

Heat Four

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time	Reaction
1	8	Yukihiro Matsushita	JPN	– (–) –	23.60	0.69
=2	4	Salim Iles	ALG	– (–) –	23.61	0.77
=2	5	Janne Blomqvist	FIN	– (–) –	23.61	0.77
4	3	Ravil Nachayev	UZB	– (–) –	23.93	0.83
5	6	Tamer Zinhom	EGY	– (–) –	24.02	0.83
6	7	Sebastian Xavier	IND	– (–) –	24.15	0.70
7	2	Alen Lončar	CRO	– (–) –	24.17	0.78
8	1	Vitaly Vasilyev	KGZ	– (–) –	24.54	0.77

Heat Five

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time	Reaction
1	5	Sion Brinn	JAM	– (–) –	23.35	0.75
2	8	Stavros Michailidis	CYP	– (–) –	23.37	0.72
3	6	Enrico Linscheer	SUR	– (–) –	23.45	0.74
4	4	Hugues Legault	CAN	– (–) –	23.63	0.71
5	1	Paulo Trindade	POR	– (–) –	23.73	0.71
6	7	Richard Bera	INA	– (–) –	23.80	0.70
7	3	Nick O'Hare	IRL	– (–) –	24.03	0.71
DQ	2	Alexandru Ioanovici	ROU	– (–) –	–	–	1

Heat Six

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time	Reaction
1	1	Ricardo Busquets	PUR	– (–) –	22.61	0.61	Q
2	4	Felipe Delgado	ECU	– (–) –	23.26	0.69
=3	2	Sergey Borisenko	KAZ	– (–) –	23.29	0.86
=3	8	Indrek Sei	EST	– (–) –	23.29	0.76
5	7	Bartosz Kizierowski	POL	– (–) –	23.34	0.75
6	6	Juan Benavides	ESP	– (–) –	23.36	0.78
7	3	Pär Lindström	SWE	– (–) –	23.47	0.72
8	5	Georgios Giziotis	GRE	– (–) –	23.56	0.76

Heat Seven

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time	Reaction
1	1	Jiang Chengji	CHN	– (–) –	22.55	0.68	Q
=2	3	Francisco Sánchez	VEN	– (–) –	22.68	0.87	Q
=2	8	Bengt Zikarsky	GER	– (–) –	22.68	0.78	q
4	6	René Gusperti	ITA	– (–) –	22.85	0.73	q
5	2	Pavlo Khnykin	UKR	– (–) –	22.91	0.76
6	7	Raimundas Mažuolis	LTU	– (–) –	22.98	0.75
7	5	Alexander Lüderitz	GER	– (–) –	23.06	0.77
8	4	José Meolans	ARG	– (–) –	23.21	0.80

Heat Eight

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time	Reaction
1	4	Gary Hall, Jr.	USA	– (–) –	22.36	0.76	Q
2	2	Brendon Dedekind	RSA	– (–) –	22.60	0.70	Q
3	5	Xuxa Scherer	BRA	– (–) –	22.68	0.78	Q
4	6	Mark Foster	GBR	– (–) –	22.73	0.83	q
5	1	Yuriy Vlasov	UKR	– (–) –	22.77	0.84	q
6	3	Christophe Kalfayan	FRA	– (–) –	22.83	0.71	q
7	7	Vladimir Predkin	RUS	– (–) –	23.03	0.80
8	8	Dzmitry Kalinovski	BLR	– (–) –	23.61	0.83

Heat Nine

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time	Reaction
1	4	Aleksandr Popov	RUS	– (–) –	22.22	0.84	Q
2	5	David Fox	USA	– (–) –	22.64	0.74	Q
3	8	Allan Murray	BAH	– (–) –	22.75	0.71	q
4	2	Pieter van den Hoogenband	NED	– (–) –	22.82	0.85	q
5	3	Gustavo Borges	BRA	– (–) –	22.86	0.78	q
6	6	Chris Fydler	AUS	– (–) –	22.98	0.81
7	1	Aleh Rukhlevich	BLR	– (–) –	23.12	0.81
8	7	Yoav Bruck	ISR	– (–) –	23.22	0.75

Swim-Off for Places 7-8

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time	Reaction
1	5	Xuxa Scherer	BRA	– (–) –	22.71	0.85	Q	2
2	4	Francisco Sánchez	VEN	– (–) –	22.74	0.81	Q
DQ	3	Bengt Zikarsky	GER	– (–) –	–	–

B Final (25 July 1996)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time	Reaction
1	2	Pieter van den Hoogenband	NED	– (–) –	22.67	0.79
2	4	Bengt Zikarsky	GER	– (–) –	22.73	0.81
3	6	Yuriy Vlasov	UKR	– (–) –	22.82	0.80
=4	3	Allan Murray	BAH	– (–) –	22.92	0.71
=4	8	Gustavo Borges	BRA	– (–) –	22.92	0.84
=6	1	Christophe Kalfayan	FRA	– (–) –	22.96	0.75
=6	7	René Gusperti	ITA	– (–) –	22.96	0.73
8	5	Mark Foster	GBR	– (–) –	23.01	0.80

Final (25 July 1996)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time	Reaction
1	4	Aleksandr Popov	RUS	– (–) –	22.13	0.83
2	5	Gary Hall, Jr.	USA	– (–) –	22.26	0.73
3	1	Xuxa Scherer	BRA	– (–) –	22.29	0.78
4	3	Jiang Chengji	CHN	– (–) –	22.33	0.67
5	6	Brendon Dedekind	RSA	– (–) –	22.59	0.68
6	7	David Fox	USA	– (–) –	22.68	0.76
7	8	Francisco Sánchez	VEN	– (–) –	22.72	0.76
8	2	Ricardo Busquets	PUR	– (–) –	22.73	0.63