Swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's 800 metre freestyle
The men's 800 metre freestyle event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held on 27 and 29 July 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.[1] It was the event's recurrence to the Games for the first time in over a century, having last been held in 1904 (at 880 yards). SummaryThe U.S.' Bobby Finke came from behind to win a surprise gold in the inaugural Olympic men's 800-meter freestyle. Fourth at the final turn, Finke unleashed a massive 26.39 split to overtake the field and lower the American record to 7:41.87. Earlier in the heats, Finke broke Michael McBroom's American record after coming into the meet with a personal best time of 7:48.22 set at the U.S. Olympic Trials. Swimming in lane 8, Italy's reigning World champion Gregorio Paltrinieri was out quickly and established a body-length lead at the 200 m mark. While Germany's Florian Wellbrock and Ukraine's Mykhailo Romanchuk gained control at the halfway stage, Paltrinieri overtook the duo to claim silver in 7:42.11. Despite setting the Olympic record in the heats, Romanchuk was unable to replicate the time and settled for bronze in 7:42.33. Wellbrock was also unable to repeat his German record from the heats, narrowly missing the podium by 0.35 seconds. Australia's Jack McLoughlin, who claimed silver in the 400 m freestyle on night one, picked up the fifth spot with a 7:45.00 to hold off Ukraine's Serhiy Frolov (7:45.11) by 11 one-hundredths of a second. Austria's Felix Auboeck finished seventh in 7:49.14, with Brazil's Guilherme Costa (7:53.31) rounding out the top eight field. RecordsPrior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
The following record was established during the competition:
QualificationThe Olympic Qualifying Time for the event is 7:54.31. Up to two swimmers per National Olympic Committee (NOC) can automatically qualify by swimming that time at an approved qualification event. The Olympic Selection Time is 8:08.54. Up to one swimmer per NOC meeting that time is eligible for selection, allocated by world ranking until the maximum quota for all swimming events is reached. NOCs without a male swimmer qualified in any event can also use their universality place.[3] Competition formatThe competition consists of two rounds: heats and a final. The swimmers with the best 8 times in the heats advance to the final. Swim-offs are used as necessary to break ties for advancement to the next round.[4] ScheduleAll times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)[1]
ResultsHeatsThe swimmers with the top 8 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the final.[5] Final
See alsoReferences
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