The women's 100 metre butterfly event at the 2024 Summer Olympics was held from 27 to 28 July 2024 at the Olympic Aquatics Centre at Paris La Défense Arena.[1]
| Women's 100 metre butterfly at the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Olympic Aquatics Centre, Paris La Défense Arena | ||||||||||||
| Dates | 27 July 2024 (Heats and Semis) 28 July 2024 (Final) | ||||||||||||
| Competitors | 32 from 26 nations | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 55.59 | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Going into the competition, Gretchen Walsh of the USA was the favourite, having set the event's world record at the Olympic Trials. Also among the favourites were China's Zhang Yufei and USA's Torri Huske, while Canada's Maggie Mac Neil was the defending champion. In the semifinals, Walsh set a new Olympic record, but in the finals Huske won by 0.04 seconds after coming back from over half a second behind over the last 35 metres. Walsh finished second and Yufei finished third. Swimming World called Huske's win a "stunning victory", and it was the first time the USA had won gold and silver in the event since 1984.
Two national records were set during the event: Barbora Seemanová broke the Czech Republic's record in the heats, and Roos Vanotterdijk broke Belgium's in the semifinals.
Background
editCanada's Maggie Mac Neil was the defending champion going into the event, and six of the finalists (including Mac Neil) from the previous Olympics were returning. Gretchen Walsh set a world record in the event at the 2024 US Olympic Trials, where Torri Huske had swum 0.21 seconds slower to claim the second qualification spot for the USA. Huske also won gold at the 2022 World Championships, while China's Zhang Yufei—who also qualified for this event—won gold at the 2023 World Championships.[2] Both SwimSwam and Swimming World predicted that Gretchen Walsh was most likely to win the race.[2][3]
Qualification
editEach National Olympic Committee (NOC) was permitted to enter a maximum of two qualified athletes in each individual event, but only if both of them had attained the Olympic Qualifying Time (OQT).[4] For this event, the OQT was 57.92 seconds. World Aquatics then considered athletes qualifying through universality; NOCs were given one event entry for each gender, which could be used by any athlete regardless of qualification time, providing the spaces had not already been taken by athletes from that nation who had achieved the OQT.[4][5] Finally, the rest of the spaces were filled by athletes who had met the Olympic Consideration Time (OCT), which was 58.21 for this event.[4] In total, 40 athletes qualified through achieving the OQT, 35 athletes qualified through universality places and two athletes qualified through achieving the OCT.[5]
Heats
editFour heats took place on 1 August 2024, starting at 11:00.[a][6] The swimmers with the best 16 times in the heats advanced to the semifinals. Yufei qualified fastest, swimming 56.50 seconds,[7] while Barbora Seemanová lowered her national record for the Czech Republic by swimming 57.50—0.25 faster than her previous national record from the year prior.[8]
Semifinals
editTwo semifinals took place on 3 August, starting at 20:30.[9] The swimmers with the best 8 times in the semifinals advanced to the final. Walsh qualified with an Olympic Record of 55.38 seconds,[10] which broke Sarah Sjöström's record from 2016 by 0.10. Huske qualified in second, and Yufei in third.[11] Roos Vanotterdijk broke the Belgian national record, by swimming 57.25 seconds. This was 0.22 seconds faster than her previous national record set the month prior but was not enough to qualify.[12]
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 5 | Gretchen Walsh |  United States |
55.38 | Q, OR |
| 2 | 2 | 5 | Torri Huske | United States |
56.00 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | 4 | Zhang Yufei |  China |
56.15 | Q |
| 4 | 1 | 3 | Angelina Köhler |  Germany |
56.55 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | 6 | Maggie Mac Neil |  Canada |
56.55 | Q |
| 6 | 2 | 3 | Emma McKeon |  Australia |
56.74 | Q |
| 7 | 1 | 4 | Mizuki Hirai |  Japan |
56.80 | Q |
| 8 | 1 | 7 | Louise Hansson |  Sweden |
56.93 | Q |
| 9 | 1 | 2 | Marie Wattel |  France |
57.24 | |
| 10 | 2 | 7 | Roos Vanotterdijk |  Belgium |
57.25 | NR |
| 11 | 2 | 2 | Barbora Seemanová |  Czech Republic |
57.64 | |
| 12 | 1 | 1 | Rikako Ikee | Japan |
57.79 | |
| 13 | 1 | 6 | Alexandria Perkins | Australia |
57.84 | |
| 14 | 2 | 1 | Erin Gallagher |  South Africa |
57.90 | |
| 15 | 2 | 8 | Tessa Giele |  Netherlands |
57.91 | |
| 16 | 1 | 8 | Keanna Macinnes |  Great Britain |
58.11 |
Final
editThe final took place at 20:40 on 4 August.[13] Torri Huske started with the fastest reaction time of 0.63 seconds, but by 15 metres Gretchen Walsh had taken first place with a faster dive and underwater.[14][15] By 25 metres, Zhang Yufei had taken the lead, but by 45 metres Walsh was back in front. At 65 metres (after the second turn and underwater) Walsh was over half a second ahead, having swum a 8.10 50–65 metre split, which was 0.5 seconds faster than anyone else in the race. Over the last 35 metres, Huske came from 0.69 behind to win by 0.04 seconds, pushing Walsh to second and Yufei to third.[14] Matt Nelson, a journalist reporting on olympics.com, called the win a "stunning victory",[16] while David Rieder of Swimming World said "it was a result three years in the making."[17] It was the first time the USA had won gold and silver in the event since 1984, and it was Walsh's first Olympic medal.[18]
| Rank | Lane | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
5 | Torri Huske | United States |
55.59 | |
 |
4 | Gretchen Walsh | United States |
55.63 | |
 |
3 | Zhang Yufei | China |
56.21 | |
| 4 | 6 | Angelina Köhler | Germany |
56.42 | |
| 5 | 2 | Maggie Mac Neil | Canada |
56.44 | |
| 6 | 7 | Emma McKeon | Australia |
56.93 | |
| 7 | 1 | Mizuki Hirai | Japan |
57.19 | |
| 8 | 8 | Louise Hansson | Sweden |
57.34 |
| Name | 15 metre split (s) | 50 metre split (s) | 50–65 metre split (s) | Time (s) | Stroke rate (strokes/min) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Torri Huske | 6.01 | 25.61 | 8.58 | 55.59 | 57.7 |
| Gretchen Walsh | 5.83 | 25.40 | 8.10 | 55.63 | 55.1 |
| Zhang Yufei | 5.95 | 25.42 | 8.65 | 56.21 | 61.9 |
| Angelina Köhler | 6.22 | 26.35 | 8.84 | 56.42 | 56.5 |
| Maggie Mac Neil | 6.27 | 25.94 | 8.43 | 56.44 | 61.0 |
| Emma McKeon | 6.17 | 26.40 | 8.69 | 56.93 | 54.3 |
| Mizuki Hirai | 6.45 | 26.66 | 8.51 | 57.19 | 59.8 |
| Louise Hansson | 6.18 | 26.61 | 8.61 | 57.34 | 56.4 |
Notes
edit- ^ All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+2)
References
edit- ^ Burgaud, Florian (22 July 2024). "From concert hall and rugby stadium to Olympic swimming pool arena in a matter of weeks, the metamorphosis of the Paris La Défense Arena is complete". olympics.com. International Olympic Committee (IOC). Archived from the original on 4 August 2024. Retrieved 1 February 2025.
- ^ a b Miller, Nicole (23 July 2024). "2024 Olympic Previews: Walsh and Huske Lead an American 1-2 Punch in the Women's 100 Fly". SwimSwam. Archived from the original on 29 August 2024. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
- ^ Rieder, David (22 July 2024). "Olympic Swimming Predictions, Day 2: Leon Marchand Heavily Favored For First Gold Medal". Swimming World News. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
- ^ a b c "Paris 2024 – Swimming Info". World Aquatics. 5 April 2022. Archived from the original on 8 February 2023. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
- ^ a b Entries list - Swimming, World Aquatics, archived from the original on 12 July 2024, retrieved 18 December 2024
- ^ a b "Results" (PDF). olympics.com. International Olympic Committee. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 July 2024. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
- ^ Wild, Mark (27 July 2024). "2024 Paris Olympics: Day 1 Prelims Live Recap". SwimSwam. Archived from the original on 20 December 2024. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
- ^ Kaufman, Sophie (28 July 2024). "Paris 2024, Euro Recap: Märtens Doesn't "Give A Shit" About 400 Free WR Record As He Wins Gold". SwimSwam. Archived from the original on 20 December 2024. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
- ^ a b "Results" (PDF). olympics.com. International Olympic Committee. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 August 2024. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
- ^ Mullen, Eric; Frankel, Kyle (27 July 2024). "UVA's Gretchen Walsh sets Olympic record in 100m butterfly semifinals". NBC4 Washington. WRC-TV. Archived from the original on 20 December 2024. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
- ^ Kaufman, Sophie (28 July 2024). "2024 Olympics: Day 1 Finals Live Recap". SwimSwam. Archived from the original on 20 December 2024. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
- ^ Kaufman, Sophie (28 July 2024). "Paris 2024, Euro Recap: Märtens Doesn't "Give A Shit" About 400 Free WR Record As He Wins Gold". SwimSwam. Archived from the original on 20 December 2024. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
- ^ a b "Results" (PDF). olympics.com. International Olympic Committee. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 September 2024. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
- ^ a b Altavilla, Sofia (13 September 2024). "Gretchen Walsh's Underwater Wasn't Enough To Win Gold: Women's 100 Fly Analysis". SwimSwam. Archived from the original on 20 December 2024. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
- ^ a b Bodard, Simon; Decron, Nathan; Dernoncourt, Eric; Hui, Pierre; Jambu, Clément; Loisel, Camille; Pla, Robin; Raineteau, Yannis. "Jeux Olympiques 2024: Analyses de course des Finales" (PDF). French Swimming Federation. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 August 2024. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
- ^ Nelsen, Matt (28 July 2024). "Swimming: USA's Torri Huske puts on stunning show to win gold in women's 100m butterfly at Paris 2024 Olympics". olympics.com. International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 31 July 2024. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
- ^ Rieder, David (28 July 2024). "Paris Olympics, Day 2 Finals: Torri Huske Earns Redemption, Runs Down Gretchen Walsh For 100 Fly Gold By 0.04". Swimming World News. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
- ^ Lattanzio, Vince (28 July 2024). "Torri Huske inches out teammate Gretchen Walsh to take Olympic gold in 100m butterfly final". NBC4 Washington. WRC-TV. Archived from the original on 20 December 2024. Retrieved 20 December 2024.