| | 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	Swimmer	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 (14 August 2004)

Fastest 16 advanced to the semi-finals.

Heat One (11:57)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Reaction
1	5	Eric Williams	NGR	31.64 (1) 36.05 (1)	1:07.69	0.78
2	4	Chisela Kanchela	ZAM	32.01 (2) 37.94 (3)	1:09.95	0.75
3	3	Amar Shah	KEN	32.50 (3) 37.67 (2)	1:10.17	0.78
4	6	Alice Shrestha	NEP	33.72 (4) 38.53 (4)	1:12.25	0.68

Heat Two (12:00)

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

Heat Three (12:03)

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

Heat Four (12:06)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Reaction
1	4	Jakob Sveinsson	ISL	29.70 (1) 33.27 (1)	1:02.97	0.87
2	7	Arsenio López	PUR	30.01 (2) 33.98 (3)	1:03.99	0.75
3	1	Christos Papadopoulos	GRE	30.51 (7) 33.92 (2)	1:04.43	0.83
4	3	Malick Fall	SEN	30.06 (=3) 34.44 (5)	1:04.50	0.83
5	2	Bradley Ally	BAR	30.39 (6) 34.32 (4)	1:04.71	0.86
6	8	Wickus Nienaber	SWZ	30.06 (=3) 34.68 (6)	1:04.74	0.74
7	6	Cristian Mauro Soldano	ARG	30.34 (5) 34.71 (7)	1:05.05	0.74
DQ	5	Ratapong Sirisanont	THA	– (–) –	–	[0.77]	1

Heat Five (12:09)

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

Heat Six (12:12)

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

Heat Seven (12:15)

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

Heat Eight (12:18)

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

Semi-Finals (14 August 2004)

Fastest eight advanced to the final.

Heat One (20:32)

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

Heat Two (20:37)

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

Final (15 August 2004 — 20:04)

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