The men's 50 metre freestyle event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 21–22 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia.[1]
| Men's 50 metre freestyle at the Games of the XXVII Olympiad | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Sydney International Aquatic Centre | |||||||||
| Date | September 21, 2000 (heats & semifinals) September 22, 2000 (final) | |||||||||
| Competitors | 80 from 73 nations | |||||||||
| Winning time | 21.98 | |||||||||
| Medalists | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
U.S. swimmers Gary Hall, Jr. and Anthony Ervin, who trained together at the Phoenix Swim Club, tied for the gold; they finished with a matching time of 21.98, edging out Dutch swimmer Pieter van den Hoogenband in 22.03.[2][3]
Italy's Lorenzo Vismara finished fourth in 22.11, while Poland's Bartosz Kizierowski was a fraction behind the leading pack in sixth at 22.22. Russia's double defending champion Alexander Popov finished outside the medals in sixth place with a time of 22.24.[2][4] Great Britain's four-time Olympian Mark Foster (22.41) and Ukraine's Oleksandr Volynets (22.51) rounded out the finale.[2] Earlier in the prelims, Volynets made a surprise packet with a ninth fastest time and a Ukrainian record of 22.52 to lead the sixth heat.[5]
Ervin stopped swimming competitively in 2003, auctioned off his gold medal on eBay to aid survivors of the 2004 tsunami, but returned from retirement to claim his place on his second Olympics, in London, twelve years after his first.[6][7][8] Both men would later continue to win another gold in this event outright (Hall, Jr. in 2004 and Ervin in 2016), edging out the runner-up by 0.01 second in their respective races.
Records
editPrior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record |  Alexander Popov (RUS) |
21.64 | Moscow, Russia | 16 June 2000 | [9] |
| Olympic record |  Alexander Popov (EUN) |
21.91 | Barcelona, Spain | 30 July 1992 | [9] |
Competition format
editIn a change from previous Games, the competition consisted of three rounds: heats, semifinals, and a final. The swimmers with the best 16 times in the heats advanced to the semifinals. The swimmers with the best 8 times in the semifinals advanced to the final. Swim-offs were used as necessary to break ties for advancement to the next round.
Results
editHeats
edit
Semifinals
edit| Rank | Heat | Lane | Name | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 4 | Gary Hall, Jr. |  United States |
22.07 | Q |
| 2 | 2 | 3 | Pieter van den Hoogenband |  Netherlands |
22.11 | Q |
| 3 | 1 | 5 | Anthony Ervin | United States |
22.13 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | 5 | Alexander Popov |  Russia |
22.17 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | 1 | Lorenzo Vismara |  Italy |
22.30 | Q |
| 6 | 1 | 1 | Mark Foster |  Great Britain |
22.32 | Q |
| 7 | 2 | 4 | Bartosz Kizierowski |  Poland |
22.35 | Q |
| 8 | 2 | 2 | Oleksandr Volynets |  Ukraine |
22.36 | Q, NR |
| 9 | 1 | 6 | Brendon Dedekind |  South Africa |
22.39 | |
| 10 | 1 | 8 | Chris Fydler |  Australia |
22.41 | |
| 2 | 7 | Roland Mark Schoeman | South Africa |
22.41 | ||
| 12 | 1 | 7 | Johan Kenkhuis | Netherlands |
22.47 | |
| 13 | 2 | 6 | Brett Hawke | Australia |
22.49 | |
| 1 | 2 | Stefan Nystrand |  Sweden |
22.49 | NR | |
| 15 | 1 | 3 | Ricardo Busquets |  Puerto Rico |
22.51 | |
| 16 | 2 | 8 | Denis Pimankov | Russia |
22.89 |
Final
edit| Rank | Lane | Name | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
4 | Gary Hall, Jr. | United States |
21.98 | |
| 3 | Anthony Ervin | United States |
|||
 |
5 | Pieter van den Hoogenband | Netherlands |
22.03 | |
| 4 | 2 | Lorenzo Vismara | Italy |
22.11 | |
| 5 | 1 | Bartosz Kizierowski | Poland |
22.22 | |
| 6 | 6 | Alexander Popov | Russia |
22.24 | |
| 7 | 7 | Mark Foster | Great Britain |
22.41 | |
| 8 | 8 | Oleksandr Volynets | Ukraine |
22.51 |
References
edit- ^ "Swimming schedule". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 14 September 2000. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
- ^ a b c Whitten, Phillip (22 September 2000). "Olympic Day 7 Finals (50 Free, 800 Free, 200 Back, 100 Fly)". Swimming World Magazine. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- ^ Gelman, Mitch (22 September 2000). "Hall Jr., Ervin share gold in 50; Dutchman takes bronze". Sports Illustrated. CNN. Archived from the original on June 18, 2001. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- ^ Fitzpatrick, Franz (23 September 2000). "Sharing The Gold Anthony Ervin And Gary Hall Jr. Each Finished The 50-meter Final In 21.98 Seconds As The U.s. Ruled The Pool Again". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on July 31, 2012. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- ^ Whitten, Phillip (21 September 2000). "Olympic Day 6 Prelims (50 Free, 800 Free, 200 Back, 100 Fly)". Swimming World Magazine. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- ^ Kelly, Barry (6 July 2004). "Olympic Gold Medalist Anthony Ervin Gives Up Swimming, Fame and Money". The Daily Californian. Archived from the original on 5 July 2012. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
- ^ Brady, Erik (27 June 2012). "Anthony Ervin has no regrets, feels lucky to be at trials". USA Today. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
- ^ Borzi, Pat (28 June 2012). "Spreading Joy of Swimming, Ex-Olympian Finds It Again". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
- ^ a b c "Sydney 2000: Swimming – Men's 50m Freestyle Heats" (PDF). Sydney 2000. LA84 Foundation. pp. 107–109. Retrieved 13 May 2013.