| | Event type

100 metres Breaststroke, Men

Date	14 – 15 August 2004
Status	Olympic
Location	Olympiako Kentro Ugrou Stivou, Olympiako Athletiko Kentro Athinon Spiros Loues, Athina (Main Pool)
Participants	60 from 55 countries

In 2013 Japan’s Kosuke Kitajima emerged as the world’s premier breaststroke swimmer when he set a brace of world records in winning both breaststroke golds at the World Championship in Barcelona. He would have been an overwhelming favourite to repeat this feat in Athens had it not been for the performance of Brendan Hansen at the US Olympic trials. Suddenly Kitajima found himself not only now just a former world record holder but not even favourite for the titles.

The two men traded Olympic records through the heats and semi-finals in preparation for their eventual showdown as the rest of the competitors were outclassed by the duo. The final lived up to expectations as the Japanese swimmer made a superior start before being pegged back and then overtaken by his American rival. Hansen had a small lead at the 50 m mark but Kitajima was not to be denied and soon moved passed Hansen and into what was to be a winning lead. After the race American Olympic backstroke champion Aaron Peirsol accused Kitajima of using an illegal dolphin kick at the start of the race, a charge the Japanese team vehemently denied.

In 2008 Kitajima became the first man in Olympic history to successfully defend his title in this event.

Pos	Competitor	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	Kosuke Kitajima	JPN	1:00.03 (1 h7)	1:00.27 (1 h2)	1:00.08 (1)	Gold
2	Brendan Hansen	USA	1:00.25 (1 h8)	1:00.01 (1 h1)	1:00.25 (2)	Silver
3	Hugues Duboscq	FRA	1:01.15 (3 h7)	1:01.17 (3 h1)	1:00.88 (3)	Bronze
4	Mark Gangloff	USA	1:00.81 (1 h6)	1:01.07 (=2 h2)	1:01.17 (4)
5	Vlad Polyakov	KAZ	1:01.16 (3 h6)	1:01.36 (5 h2)	1:01.34 (5)
6	James Gibson	GBR	1:00.99 (2 h7)	1:01.07 (=2 h2)	1:01.36 (6)
7	Darren Mew	GBR	1:00.89 (2 h6)	1:00.83 (2 h1)	1:01.66 (7)
8	Oleh Lisohor	UKR	1:01.21 (3 h8)	1:01.07 (=2 h2)	1:02.42 (8)
9	Roman Sludnov	RUS	1:01.65 (4 h6)	1:01.54 (4 h1)	–
10	Jens Kruppa	GER	1:01.19 (2 h8)	1:01.68 (5 h1)	–
11	René Kolonko	GER	1:02.09 (6 h7)	1:01.82 (6 h1)	–
12	Dmitry Komornikov	RUS	1:02.05 (6 h6)	1:01.83 (6 h2)	–
13	Jarno Pihlava	FIN	1:01.99 (4 h7)	1:01.86 (7 h2)	–
14	Richárd Bodor	HUN	1:01.91 (5 h6)	1:01.88 (7 h1)	–
15	Eduardo Fischer	BRA	1:01.84 (4 h8)	1:02.07 (8 h2)	–
16	Thijs van Valkengoed	NED	1:02.03 (5 h7)	1:02.36 (8 h1)	–
17	Emil Tahirovič	SLO	1:02.12 (7 h7)	–	–
18	Morgan Knabe	CAN	1:02.13 (5 h8)	–	–
=19	Scott Dickens	CAN	1:02.16 (=6 h8)	–	–
=19	Jim Piper	AUS	1:02.16 (=6 h8)	–	–
21	Alexander Dale Oen	NOR	1:02.25 (8 h8)	–	–
22	Martin Gustavsson	SWE	1:02.53 (7 h6)	–	–
23	Jakob Sveinsson	ISL	1:02.97 (1 h4)	–	–
24	Terence Parkin	RSA	1:03.05 (1 h5)	–	–
25	Maxim Podoprigora	AUT	1:03.08 (2 h5)	–	–
26	Vanja Rogulj	CRO	1:03.16 (8 h7)	–	–
27	Alwin de Prins	LUX	1:03.32 (3 h5)	–	–
28	Daniel Málek	CZE	1:03.35 (4 h5)	–	–
29	Mladen Tepavčević	SCG	1:03.52 (5 h5)	–	–
30	Wang Haibo	CHN	1:03.54 (8 h6)	–	–
31	Yu Seung-Hyeon	KOR	1:03.56 (1 h3)	–	–
32	Sofiane Daid	ALG	1:03.63 (6 h5)	–	–
33	José Couto	POR	1:03.72 (7 h5)	–	–
34	Remo Lütolf	SUI	1:03.82 (8 h5)	–	–
35	Chen Cho-Yi	TPE	1:03.94 (2 h3)	–	–
=36	Ben Labowitch	NZL	1:03.99 (3 h3)	–	–
=36	Arsenio López	PUR	1:03.99 (2 h4)	–	–
38	Aurimas Valaitis	LTU	1:04.11 (4 h3)	–	–
39	Christos Papadopoulos	GRE	1:04.43 (3 h4)	–	–
40	Malick Fall	SEN	1:04.50 (4 h4)	–	–
41	Bradley Ally	BAR	1:04.71 (5 h4)	–	–
42	Wickus Nienaber	SWZ	1:04.74 (6 h4)	–	–
43	Cristian Mauro Soldano	ARG	1:05.05 (7 h4)	–	–
44	Tam Chi Kin	HKG	1:05.11 (1 h2)	–	–
45	Álvaro Fortuny	GUA	1:05.41 (5 h3)	–	–
46	Kyriakos Dimosthenous	CYP	1:05.54 (6 h3)	–	–
=47	Andrei Capitanciuc	MDA	1:05.65 (=2 h2)	–	–
=47	Ahmad Al-Kudmani	KSA	1:05.65 (=2 h2)	–	–
49	Aleksandr Baldin	EST	1:06.04 (7 h3)	–	–
50	Timmy Chua	PHI	1:06.37 (4 h2)	–	–
51	Pāvels Murāns	LAT	1:06.45 (5 h2)	–	–
52	Nguyễn Hữu Việt	VIE	1:06.70 (8 h3)	–	–
53	Eric Williams	NGR	1:07.69 (1 h1)	–	–
54	Jean-Luc Razakarivony	MAD	1:07.74 (6 h2)	–	–
55	Yevgeny Petrashov	KGZ	1:07.78 (7 h2)	–	–
56	Oleg Sidorov	UZB	1:08.30 (8 h2)	–	–
57	Chisela Kanchela	ZAM	1:09.95 (2 h1)	–	–
58	Amar Shah	KEN	1:10.17 (3 h1)	–	–
59	Alice Shrestha	NEP	1:12.25 (4 h1)	–	–
DQ	Ratapong Sirisanont	THA	– (DQ h4)	–	–

Round One

Date	14 August 2004
Format	Fastest 16 advanced to the semi-finals.

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Kosuke Kitajima	JPN	1:00.03	QOR
2	–	Brendan Hansen	USA	1:00.25	Q
3	–	Mark Gangloff	USA	1:00.81	Q
4	–	Darren Mew	GBR	1:00.89	Q
5	–	James Gibson	GBR	1:00.99	Q
6	–	Hugues Duboscq	FRA	1:01.15	Q
7	–	Vlad Polyakov	KAZ	1:01.16	Q
8	–	Jens Kruppa	GER	1:01.19	Q
9	–	Oleh Lisohor	UKR	1:01.21	Q
10	–	Roman Sludnov	RUS	1:01.65	Q
11	–	Eduardo Fischer	BRA	1:01.84	Q
12	–	Richárd Bodor	HUN	1:01.91	Q
13	–	Jarno Pihlava	FIN	1:01.99	Q
14	–	Thijs van Valkengoed	NED	1:02.03	Q
15	–	Dmitry Komornikov	RUS	1:02.05	Q
16	–	René Kolonko	GER	1:02.09	Q
17	–	Emil Tahirovič	SLO	1:02.12
18	–	Morgan Knabe	CAN	1:02.13
=19	–	Jim Piper	AUS	1:02.16
=19	–	Scott Dickens	CAN	1:02.16
21	–	Alexander Dale Oen	NOR	1:02.25
22	–	Martin Gustavsson	SWE	1:02.53
23	–	Jakob Sveinsson	ISL	1:02.97
24	–	Terence Parkin	RSA	1:03.05
25	–	Maxim Podoprigora	AUT	1:03.08
26	–	Vanja Rogulj	CRO	1:03.16
27	–	Alwin de Prins	LUX	1:03.32
28	–	Daniel Málek	CZE	1:03.35
29	–	Mladen Tepavčević	SCG	1:03.52
30	–	Wang Haibo	CHN	1:03.54
31	–	Yu Seung-Hyeon	KOR	1:03.56
32	–	Sofiane Daid	ALG	1:03.63
33	–	José Couto	POR	1:03.72
34	–	Remo Lütolf	SUI	1:03.82
35	–	Chen Cho-Yi	TPE	1:03.94
=36	–	Ben Labowitch	NZL	1:03.99
=36	–	Arsenio López	PUR	1:03.99
38	–	Aurimas Valaitis	LTU	1:04.11
39	–	Christos Papadopoulos	GRE	1:04.43
40	–	Malick Fall	SEN	1:04.50
41	–	Bradley Ally	BAR	1:04.71
42	–	Wickus Nienaber	SWZ	1:04.74
43	–	Cristian Mauro Soldano	ARG	1:05.05
44	–	Tam Chi Kin	HKG	1:05.11
45	–	Álvaro Fortuny	GUA	1:05.41
46	–	Kyriakos Dimosthenous	CYP	1:05.54
=47	–	Ahmad Al-Kudmani	KSA	1:05.65
=47	–	Andrei Capitanciuc	MDA	1:05.65
49	–	Aleksandr Baldin	EST	1:06.04
50	–	Timmy Chua	PHI	1:06.37
51	–	Pāvels Murāns	LAT	1:06.45
52	–	Nguyễn Hữu Việt	VIE	1:06.70
53	–	Eric Williams	NGR	1:07.69
54	–	Jean-Luc Razakarivony	MAD	1:07.74
55	–	Yevgeny Petrashov	KGZ	1:07.78
56	–	Oleg Sidorov	UZB	1:08.30
57	–	Chisela Kanchela	ZAM	1:09.95
58	–	Amar Shah	KEN	1:10.17
59	–	Alice Shrestha	NEP	1:12.25
DQ	–	Ratapong Sirisanont	THA	–		1

Heat #1

Time	11:57

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Eric Williams	NGR	1:07.69	0.78	31.64 (1)	36.05 (1)
2	–	Chisela Kanchela	ZAM	1:09.95	0.75	32.01 (2)	37.94 (3)
3	–	Amar Shah	KEN	1:10.17	0.78	32.50 (3)	37.67 (2)
4	–	Alice Shrestha	NEP	1:12.25	0.68	33.72 (4)	38.53 (4)

Heat #2

Time	12:00

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Tam Chi Kin	HKG	1:05.11	0.76	30.55 (2)	34.56 (1)
=2	–	Ahmad Al-Kudmani	KSA	1:05.65	0.76	30.94 (4)	34.71 (2)
=2	–	Andrei Capitanciuc	MDA	1:05.65	0.79	30.32 (1)	35.33 (4)
4	–	Timmy Chua	PHI	1:06.37	0.71	31.39 (5)	34.98 (3)
5	–	Pāvels Murāns	LAT	1:06.45	0.85	30.70 (3)	35.75 (6)
6	–	Jean-Luc Razakarivony	MAD	1:07.74	0.86	32.17 (8)	35.57 (5)
7	–	Yevgeny Petrashov	KGZ	1:07.78	0.88	31.69 (6)	36.09 (7)
8	–	Oleg Sidorov	UZB	1:08.30	0.80	31.97 (7)	36.33 (8)

Heat #3

Time	12:03

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Yu Seung-Hyeon	KOR	1:03.56	0.65	29.41 (1)	34.15 (4)
2	–	Chen Cho-Yi	TPE	1:03.94	0.66	30.05 (4)	33.89 (2)
3	–	Ben Labowitch	NZL	1:03.99	0.83	29.88 (3)	34.11 (3)
4	–	Aurimas Valaitis	LTU	1:04.11	0.76	30.23 (5)	33.88 (1)
5	–	Álvaro Fortuny	GUA	1:05.41	0.75	29.81 (2)	35.60 (8)
6	–	Kyriakos Dimosthenous	CYP	1:05.54	0.79	30.80 (6)	34.74 (6)
7	–	Aleksandr Baldin	EST	1:06.04	0.89	31.02 (7)	35.02 (7)
8	–	Nguyễn Hữu Việt	VIE	1:06.70	0.79	32.12 (8)	34.58 (5)

Heat #4

Time	12:06

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Jakob Sveinsson	ISL	1:02.97	0.87	29.70 (1)	33.27 (1)
2	–	Arsenio López	PUR	1:03.99	0.75	30.01 (2)	33.98 (3)
3	–	Christos Papadopoulos	GRE	1:04.43	0.83	30.51 (7)	33.92 (2)
4	–	Malick Fall	SEN	1:04.50	0.83	30.06 (=3)	34.44 (5)
5	–	Bradley Ally	BAR	1:04.71	0.86	30.39 (6)	34.32 (4)
6	–	Wickus Nienaber	SWZ	1:04.74	0.74	30.06 (=3)	34.68 (6)
7	–	Cristian Mauro Soldano	ARG	1:05.05	0.74	30.34 (5)	34.71 (7)
DQ	–	Ratapong Sirisanont	THA	–	[0.77]	– (–)	–	2

Heat #5

Time	12:09

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Terence Parkin	RSA	1:03.05	0.87	30.05 (8)	33.00 (1)
2	–	Maxim Podoprigora	AUT	1:03.08	0.81	29.94 (6)	33.14 (2)
3	–	Alwin de Prins	LUX	1:03.32	0.92	29.62 (4)	33.70 (4)
4	–	Daniel Málek	CZE	1:03.35	0.81	30.02 (7)	33.33 (3)
5	–	Mladen Tepavčević	SCG	1:03.52	0.86	29.45 (1)	34.07 (5)
6	–	Sofiane Daid	ALG	1:03.63	0.80	29.46 (2)	34.17 (=7)
7	–	José Couto	POR	1:03.72	0.80	29.61 (3)	34.11 (6)
8	–	Remo Lütolf	SUI	1:03.82	0.84	29.65 (5)	34.17 (=7)

Heat #6

Time	12:12

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Mark Gangloff	USA	1:00.81	0.71	28.57 (1)	32.24 (2)	Q
2	–	Darren Mew	GBR	1:00.89	0.80	28.69 (2)	32.20 (1)	Q
3	–	Vlad Polyakov	KAZ	1:01.16	0.76	28.81 (3)	32.35 (3)	Q
4	–	Roman Sludnov	RUS	1:01.65	0.83	29.15 (4)	32.50 (6)	Q
5	–	Richárd Bodor	HUN	1:01.91	0.75	29.48 (5)	32.43 (4)	Q
6	–	Dmitry Komornikov	RUS	1:02.05	0.89	29.57 (6)	32.48 (5)	Q
7	–	Martin Gustavsson	SWE	1:02.53	0.78	29.77 (7)	32.76 (7)
8	–	Wang Haibo	CHN	1:03.54	0.81	30.13 (8)	33.41 (8)

Heat #7

Time	12:15

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Kosuke Kitajima	JPN	1:00.03	0.70	28.46 (2)	31.57 (1)	QOR
2	–	James Gibson	GBR	1:00.99	0.77	28.42 (1)	32.57 (3)	Q
3	–	Hugues Duboscq	FRA	1:01.15	0.78	28.66 (3)	32.49 (2)	Q
4	–	Jarno Pihlava	FIN	1:01.99	0.74	29.16 (6)	32.83 (5)	Q
5	–	Thijs van Valkengoed	NED	1:02.03	0.78	29.33 (8)	32.70 (4)	Q
6	–	René Kolonko	GER	1:02.09	0.86	28.90 (5)	33.19 (6)	Q
7	–	Emil Tahirovič	SLO	1:02.12	0.78	28.84 (4)	33.28 (7)
8	–	Vanja Rogulj	CRO	1:03.16	0.72	29.24 (7)	33.92 (8)

Heat #8

Time	12:18

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Brendan Hansen	USA	1:00.25	0.69	28.71 (4)	31.54 (1)	Q
2	–	Jens Kruppa	GER	1:01.19	0.85	28.57 (=1)	32.62 (3)	Q
3	–	Oleh Lisohor	UKR	1:01.21	0.80	28.67 (3)	32.54 (2)	Q
4	–	Eduardo Fischer	BRA	1:01.84	0.77	28.83 (5)	33.01 (7)	Q
5	–	Morgan Knabe	CAN	1:02.13	0.82	29.14 (6)	32.99 (6)
=6	–	Jim Piper	AUS	1:02.16	0.80	29.22 (7)	32.94 (5)
=6	–	Scott Dickens	CAN	1:02.16	0.77	29.50 (8)	32.66 (4)
8	–	Alexander Dale Oen	NOR	1:02.25	0.81	28.57 (=1)	33.68 (8)

Semi-Finals

Date	14 August 2004
Format	Fastest eight advanced to the final.

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Brendan Hansen	USA	1:00.01	QOR
2	–	Kosuke Kitajima	JPN	1:00.27	Q
3	–	Darren Mew	GBR	1:00.83	Q
=4	–	Mark Gangloff	USA	1:01.07	Q
=4	–	James Gibson	GBR	1:01.07	Q
=4	–	Oleh Lisohor	UKR	1:01.07	Q
7	–	Hugues Duboscq	FRA	1:01.17	Q
8	–	Vlad Polyakov	KAZ	1:01.36	Q
9	–	Roman Sludnov	RUS	1:01.54
10	–	Jens Kruppa	GER	1:01.68
11	–	René Kolonko	GER	1:01.82
12	–	Dmitry Komornikov	RUS	1:01.83
13	–	Jarno Pihlava	FIN	1:01.86
14	–	Richárd Bodor	HUN	1:01.88
15	–	Eduardo Fischer	BRA	1:02.07
16	–	Thijs van Valkengoed	NED	1:02.36

Heat #1

Time	20:32

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Brendan Hansen	USA	1:00.01	0.74	28.27 (1)	31.74 (1)	QOR
2	–	Darren Mew	GBR	1:00.83	0.78	28.48 (2)	32.35 (2)	Q
3	–	Hugues Duboscq	FRA	1:01.17	0.75	28.65 (3)	32.52 (=3)	Q
4	–	Roman Sludnov	RUS	1:01.54	0.81	29.02 (5)	32.52 (=3)
5	–	Jens Kruppa	GER	1:01.68	0.83	28.89 (4)	32.79 (7)
6	–	René Kolonko	GER	1:01.82	0.87	29.08 (6)	32.74 (6)
7	–	Richárd Bodor	HUN	1:01.88	0.76	29.30 (8)	32.58 (5)
8	–	Thijs van Valkengoed	NED	1:02.36	0.79	29.22 (7)	33.14 (8)

Heat #2

Time	20:37

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Kosuke Kitajima	JPN	1:00.27	0.72	28.41 (2)	31.86 (1)	Q
=2	–	Mark Gangloff	USA	1:01.07	0.75	28.86 (5)	32.21 (2)	Q
=2	–	James Gibson	GBR	1:01.07	0.82	28.34 (1)	32.73 (6)	Q
=2	–	Oleh Lisohor	UKR	1:01.07	0.81	28.61 (3)	32.46 (3)	Q
5	–	Vlad Polyakov	KAZ	1:01.36	0.79	28.80 (4)	32.56 (5)	Q
6	–	Dmitry Komornikov	RUS	1:01.83	0.89	29.33 (8)	32.50 (4)
7	–	Jarno Pihlava	FIN	1:01.86	0.82	28.96 (6)	32.90 (8)
8	–	Eduardo Fischer	BRA	1:02.07	0.81	29.20 (7)	32.87 (7)

Final Round

Date	15 August 2004 — 20:04

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Kosuke Kitajima	JPN	1:00.08	0.72	28.26 (3)	31.82 (1)
2	–	Brendan Hansen	USA	1:00.25	0.70	28.22 (1)	32.03 (=2)
3	–	Hugues Duboscq	FRA	1:00.88	0.73	28.25 (2)	32.63 (5)
4	–	Mark Gangloff	USA	1:01.17	0.72	29.14 (8)	32.03 (=2)
5	–	Vlad Polyakov	KAZ	1:01.34	0.80	28.87 (7)	32.47 (4)
6	–	James Gibson	GBR	1:01.36	0.77	28.35 (4)	33.01 (6)
7	–	Darren Mew	GBR	1:01.66	0.79	28.59 (5)	33.07 (7)
8	–	Oleh Lisohor	UKR	1:02.42	0.80	28.66 (6)	33.76 (8)