Swimming at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre freestyle

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Men's 100 metre freestyle
at the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad
Paris La Défense Arena after it was converted to a swimming pool for the swimming events
VenueParis La Défense Arena
Dates30 July 2024
(Heats and Semis)
31 July 2024
(Final)
Competitors79 from 70 nations
Winning time46.40 WR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Pan Zhanle  China
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Kyle Chalmers  Australia
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) David Popovici  Romania
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Swimming at the
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100 mmenwomen
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100 mmenwomen
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The men's 100 metre freestyle event at the 2024 Summer Olympics was held on 30 and 31 July 2024 at Paris La Défense Arena, which was converted to a swimming pool for the swimming events.[1] Since an Olympic size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of two lengths of the pool.

Romanian David Popovici, China's Pan Zhanle, Australia's Kyle Chalmers, and France's Maxime Grousset were the favourites for the event, and they all progressed through to the final. In the heats, national records for Nepal and Vanuatu were broken.

In the final, Pan swam both the fastest opening split and fastest closing split to win with a new world record of 46.40. Chalmers won silver with 47.48 and Popovici won bronze with 47.49. All eight swimmers finished in under 48 seconds, which had never happened before in an Olympic final, and Pan's swim broke the first swimming world record of the Olympics. It was the biggest margin of victory in the event since the 1928 Olympics, and Pan later called it a "perfect performance".

Background

[edit]

In 2022, 17-year-old David Popovici of Romania had broken the world record in the event, lowering it to 46.86.[2] Popovici also swam a 46.88 at the 2024 European Championships which was the second fastest qualifying time for the Olympics.[2][3] At the 2024 World Championships China's Pan Zhanle broke Popovici's record with a time of 46.80.[2] That time had not been beaten since, and was the fastest qualification time.[3]

Australian Kyle Chalmers was the 2016 Olympic champion and 2020 Olympic silver medallist. He won the World Championships in 2023, where he swam 47.15 to win gold;[2] that time was the fourth fastest qualifying time for the Olympics.[3] The third fastest qualifying time was held by the US' Jack Alexy, who swam 47.08 at the 2024 US Olympic Trials.[3]

Other contenders were Frenchman Maxime Grousset, the 2023 World Championships bronze medallist; Hungary's Nándor Németh, the 2024 World Championships bronze medallist; and Italy's Alessandro Miressi, the 2024 World Championships silver medallist.[2] The US' Olympic champion Caeleb Dressel did not qualify.[2]

SwimSwam predicted that Chalmers would win, followed by Grousset in second and Popovici in third.[2] Swimming World predicted Popovici would win, followed by Pan in second and Chalmers in third.[4]

Qualification

[edit]
Further information: Swimming at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Qualification

Each 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).[5] For this event, the OQT was 48.34 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.[5][3] Finally, the rest of the spaces were filled by athletes who had met the Olympic Consideration Time (OCT), which was 48.58 for this event.[5] In total, 32 athletes qualified through achieving the OQT, 46 athletes qualified through universality places and one athlete qualified through achieving the OCT.[3]

Top 10 fastest qualification times[3]
Swimmer Country Time Competition
Pan Zhanle  China 46.80 2024 World Aquatics Championships
David Popovici  Romania 46.88 2024 European Championships
Jack Alexy  United States 47.08 2024 United States Olympic Trials
Kyle Chalmers  Australia 47.15 2023 World Aquatics Championships
Chris Guiliano  United States 47.25 2024 United States Olympic Trials
Maxime Grousset  France 47.33 2024 French Elite Championships
Matthew Richards  Great Britain 47.45 2023 World Aquatics Championships
Nándor Németh  Hungary 47.49 2024 European Championships
Alessandro Miressi  Italy 47.54 2023 World Aquatics Championships
Joshua Liendo  Canada 47.55 2024 Canadian Olympic Trials

Heats

[edit]

Six heats (preliminary rounds) took place on 30 July 2024, starting at 11:17.[6][a] The swimmers with the best 16 times in the heats advanced to the semifinals.[7] Alexy won the eighth heat with the fastest qualifying time of 47.57, while Grousset qualified with the second fastest time of 47.70. Popovici, Németh, Chalmers, Miressi and Pan all qualified. Pan Zhanle qualified with the joint thirteenth fastest qualifying time of 48.40, which SwimSwam commented "wasn’t a great swim" for him.[8] Between the heats and semifinals of this event, Pan swam broke the event's Olympic record in his split of the 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay.[9]

South Korean Hwang Sun-woo, who qualified with the sixteenth fastest qualifying time, withdrew from the semifinals in favour of resting for the 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay. This allowed Australian William Yang to compete in the semifinals instead.[10] Nepal's Alexander Shah lowered his country's national record to 51.91,[11] while Johnathan Silas lowered Vanuatu's national record to 59.38,[12] however neither of them were fast enough to qualify.[6]

Results[6]
Rank Heat Lane Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 8 4 Jack Alexy  United States 47.57 Q
2 8 5 Maxime Grousset  France 47.70 Q
3 9 4 David Popovici  Romania 47.92 Q
4 9 3 Nándor Németh  Hungary 47.93 Q
5 8 6 Jordan Crooks  Cayman Islands 48.01 Q
6 10 5 Kyle Chalmers  Australia 48.07 Q
7 8 3 Alessandro Miressi  Italy 48.24 Q
8 9 5 Chris Guiliano  United States 48.25 Q
10 2 Josha Salchow  Germany 48.25 Q
10 9 6 Andrej Barna  Serbia 48.34 Q
10 6 Joshua Liendo  Canada 48.34 Q
12 10 7 Guilherme Caribé  Brazil 48.35 Q
13 8 7 Velimir Stjepanović  Serbia 48.40 Q
10 3 Matthew Richards  Great Britain 48.40 Q
10 4 Pan Zhanle  China 48.40 Q
16 8 2 Hwang Sun-woo  South Korea 48.41 Q, WD
17 10 8 William Yang  Australia 48.46 q
18 9 1 Jacob Whittle  Great Britain 48.47
19 7 8 Sergio de Celis  Spain 48.49
20 8 1 Danas Rapšys  Lithuania 48.53
21 7 6 Tomer Frankel  Israel 48.66
22 10 1 Wang Haoyu  China 48.79
23 7 4 Sean Niewold  Netherlands 48.82
7 5 Rafael Fente-Damers  France 48.82
9 8 Leonardo Deplano  Italy 48.82
26 5 5 Lamar Taylor  Bahamas 48.84
6 4 Mikel Schreuders  Aruba 48.84
28 9 7 Diogo Ribeiro  Portugal 48.88
29 7 2 Yuri Kisil  Canada 49.06
30 6 5 Ralph Daleiden  Luxembourg 49.12
31 7 7 Cameron Gray  New Zealand 49.24
32 7 1 Jorge Iga  Mexico 49.28
33 8 8 Nikola Miljenić  Croatia 49.34
34 7 3 Dylan Carter  Trinidad and Tobago 49.35
35 9 2 Marcelo Chierighini  Brazil 49.38
36 6 7 Jakub Majerski  Poland 49.44
37 6 2 Alberto Mestre  Venezuela 49.51
38 6 3 Jonathan Tan  Singapore 49.60
39 6 1 Daniel Gracík  Czech Republic 49.65
40 6 6 Björn Seeliger  Sweden 49.70
41 6 8 Adilbek Mussin  Kazakhstan 49.92
42 5 3 Simon Doueihy  Lebanon 50.10
43 4 1 Nikolas Antoniou  Cyprus 50.35
44 4 3 Jayhan Odlum-Smith  Saint Lucia 50.39
4 5 Yousuf Al-Matrooshi  United Arab Emirates 50.39
46 5 4 Jack Kirby  Barbados 50.42
47 4 4 Leo Nolles  Uruguay 50.58
48 5 8 Samyar Abdoli  Iran 50.63
49 5 6 Dulyawat Kaewsriyong  Thailand 50.64
50 4 8 Enkhtamir Batbayar  Mongolia 50.81
51 4 2 Matthieu Seye  Senegal 50.84
52 4 6 Harry Stacey  Ghana 51.12
53 3 6 Zaid Al-Sarraj  Saudi Arabia 51.21
54 4 7 Kyle Abeysinghe  Sri Lanka 51.42
55 5 7 Ian Ho  Hong Kong 51.46
56 5 2 Artur Barseghyan  Armenia 51.54
57 5 1 Javier Núñez  Dominican Republic 51.55
58 3 4 Adell Sabovic  Kosovo 51.77
59 3 1 Alexander Shah  Nepal 51.91 NR
60 2 5 Ovesh Purahoo  Mauritius 52.22
61 3 5 Musa Zhalayev  Turkmenistan 52.29
62 3 7 Grisi Koxhaku  Albania 52.32
63 3 8 Mohamad Zubaid  Kuwait 52.35
64 3 3 Henrique Mascarenhas  Angola 52.52
65 2 4 Nixon Hernández  El Salvador 52.73
66 3 2 Johann Stickland  Samoa 52.94
67 2 3 Antoine De Lapparent  Cambodia 52.95
68 2 2 Irvin Hoost  Suriname 52.99
69 2 6 Samiul Islam Rafi  Bangladesh 53.10
70 2 7 Issa Al-Adawi  Oman 53.19
71 2 1 Collins Saliboko  Tanzania 53.38
72 1 4 Josh Tarere  Papua New Guinea 53.85
73 1 6 Phone Pyae Han  Myanmar 55.56
74 1 3 Sangay Tenzin  Bhutan 56.08
75 2 8 Yousef Abubaker  Libya 56.19
76 1 5 Alexien Kouma  Mali 56.34
77 1 2 Johnathan Silas  Vanuatu 59.38 NR
78 1 7 Giorgio Armani Nguichie Kamseu Kamogne  Cameroon 1:03.42
79 1 1 Hadji Hassane  Comoros 1:07.21

Semifinals

[edit]

Two semifinals took place on 30 July, starting at 20:30.[13] The swimmers with the best eight times in the semifinals advanced to the final.[7] Chalmers won the first heat to qualify with the second fastest time of 47.58,[14] while Pan won the second heat to qualify with the fastest time of 47.21.[15] The remaining finalists were: Németh, Grousset, Popovici, Alexy, the US' Chris Guillano and Germany's Josha Salchow.[9]

Results[13]
Rank Heat Lane Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 2 8 Pan Zhanle  China 47.21 Q
2 1 3 Kyle Chalmers  Australia 47.58 Q
3 1 5 Nándor Németh  Hungary 47.61 Q
4 1 4 Maxime Grousset  France 47.63 Q
5 2 5 David Popovici  Romania 47.66 Q
6 2 4 Jack Alexy  United States 47.68 Q
7 1 6 Chris Guiliano  United States 47.72 Q
8 2 2 Josha Salchow  Germany 47.94 Q
9 2 6 Alessandro Miressi  Italy 47.95
10 1 7 Guilherme Caribé  Brazil 48.03
11 2 7 Josh Liendo  Canada 48.06
12 1 1 Matthew Richards  Great Britain 48.09
13 2 3 Jordan Crooks  Cayman Islands 48.10
14 1 2 Andrej Barna  Serbia 48.11
15 1 8 William Yang  Australia 48.42
16 2 1 Velimir Stjepanović  Serbia 48.78

Final

[edit]

Race

[edit]
External videos
video icon Men's 100 metre freestyle final

The final took place at 22:39 on 31 July.[16] Pan led the race from start to finish to claim a new world record of 46.40,[17][18] which broke his previous world record of 46.80 set at the 2024 World Championships.[19] He swam both the fastest opening half split of 22.28 and the fastest closing half split of 24.12.[17] Chalmers was last at the halfway turn,[20] but he swam the second fastest closing 50 metres to win silver with 47.48—his third Olympic medal in the event.[20] Popovici finished 0.01 seconds behind Chalmers with 47.49 to win bronze, and Németh finished 0.01 seconds behind Popovici to finish fourth with 47.50.[17] All eight swimmers finished in under 48 seconds, which had never happened before in an Olympic final, and SwimSwam called it an "unbelievable race".[20]

Pan's swim broke the first swimming world record of the Olympics, which re-ignited discussions over whether the Paris Olympic pool was "slow" or not.[17][21] It was the biggest margin of victory in the event since the 1928 Olympics, and it was China's first medal in the event.[22] After the race, Pan, through a translator, called the race a "perfect performance".[23]

Results[16]
Rank Lane Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) 4 Pan Zhanle  China 46.40 WR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) 5 Kyle Chalmers  Australia 47.48
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 2 David Popovici  Romania 47.49
4 3 Nándor Németh  Hungary 47.50
5 6 Maxime Grousset  France 47.71
6 8 Josha Salchow  Germany 47.80 NR
7 7 Jack Alexy  United States 47.96
8 1 Chris Guiliano  United States 47.98
Statistics[24]
Name 15 metre split (s) 50 metre split (s) 50–65 metre split (s) Time (s) Stroke rate (strokes/min)
Pan Zhanle 5.45 22.28 6.57 46.40 51.6
Kyle Chalmers 5.61 23.03 6.60 47.48 52.1
David Popovici 5.66 22.94 6.61 47.49 51.7
Nándor Németh 5.61 22.90 6.71 47.50 54.8
Maxime Grousset 5.33 22.61 6.60 47.71 53.0
Josha Salchow 5.62 22.93 6.88 47.80 50.6
Jack Alexy 5.55 22.63 6.82 47.96 48.0
Chris Guiliano 5.40 22.82 6.67 47.98 49.6

Further reading

[edit]
  • Bush, Bradley (20 August 2024). "2024 Olympics Race Data Breakdown: Men's 100 Free". SwimSwam. Retrieved 15 March 2025.

Notes

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  1. ^ All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+2)

References

[edit]
  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Rosado, Laura (20 July 2024). "2024 Olympic Preview: Two WR Holders and an Olympic Champion Walk Into a Room (Men's 100 Free)". SwimSwam. Archived from the original on 3 March 2025. Retrieved 3 March 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Entries list - Swimming, World Aquatics, archived from the original on 12 July 2024, retrieved 18 December 2024
  4. ^ Rieder, David (23 July 2024). "Olympic Swimming Predictions, Day 5: 100 Freestyle Finals Bookend Busy Middle Night". Swimming World. Archived from the original on 22 December 2024. Retrieved 3 March 2025.
  5. ^ a b c "Paris 2024 – Swimming Info". World Aquatics. 5 April 2022. Archived from the original on 8 February 2023. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  6. ^ a b c "Results" (PDF). olympics.com. International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 August 2024. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  7. ^ a b "Olympic swimming rules: How can swimmers qualify for finals and win medals - format explained". olympics.com. International Olympic Committee (IOC). 24 July 2024. Archived from the original on 21 August 2024. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
  8. ^ Penland, Spencer (30 July 2024). "2024 Paris Olympics: Day 4 Prelims Live Recap". SwimSwam. Archived from the original on 15 January 2025. Retrieved 15 March 2025.
  9. ^ a b Wild, Mark (30 July 2024). "2024 Paris Olympics: Day 4 Finals Live Recap". SwimSwam. Archived from the original on 17 February 2025. Retrieved 15 March 2025.
  10. ^ Wild, Mark (30 July 2024). "Hwang Sun-Woo Withdraws from Men's 100 Free Semis, MacNeil Out Too (Day 4 Finals Scratches)". SwimSwam. Archived from the original on 25 December 2024. Retrieved 15 March 2025.
  11. ^ "Shah sets national record at Paris 2024, Dahal out". The Kathmandu Post. 11 December 2024. Archived from the original on 11 December 2024. Retrieved 15 March 2025.
  12. ^ Tora, Iliesa (2 August 2024). Persico, Christina (ed.). "Pacific Islands runners to tackle Paris 100m prelims". RNZ. Archived from the original on 25 September 2024. Retrieved 15 March 2025.
  13. ^ a b "Results" (PDF). olympics.com. International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 August 2024. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
  14. ^ Wild, Mark (30 July 2024). "2024 Paris Olympics: Day 4 Finals Live Recap". SwimSwam. Archived from the original on 17 February 2025. Retrieved 15 March 2025.
  15. ^ Rieder, David (30 July 2024). "Paris Olympics, Day 4 Semifinals: Pan Zhanle Bounces Back, Blasts Through to 100 Freestyle Final". Swimming World. Archived from the original on 1 August 2024. Retrieved 15 March 2025.
  16. ^ a b "Results" (PDF). olympics.com. International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2024. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
  17. ^ a b c d Penland, Spencer (1 August 2024). "2024 Paris Olympics: Day 5 Finals Live Recap". SwimSwam. Archived from the original on 24 December 2024. Retrieved 15 March 2025.
  18. ^ Wade, Stephen (31 July 2024). "Pan Zhanle of China breaks own world record to win Olympic gold medal in men's 100-meter freestyle". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 5 January 2025. Retrieved 15 March 2025.
  19. ^ Ransom, Ian (31 July 2024). "Swimming-China's Pan smashes own 100m freestyle world record for gold". Reuters. Retrieved 15 March 2025.
  20. ^ a b c Bush, Bradley (20 August 2024). "2024 Olympics Race Data Breakdown: Men's 100 Free". SwimSwam. Archived from the original on 11 March 2025. Retrieved 15 March 2025.
  21. ^ Moorhouse, Adrian; Foster, Mark (31 July 2024). "All the reaction from a thrilling day five of the Paris Games". BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 March 2025.
  22. ^ Bush, Bradley (31 July 2024). "2024 Paris Olympics Day 5 Finals: Fun Facts". SwimSwam. Archived from the original on 14 January 2025. Retrieved 15 March 2025.
  23. ^ Ransom, Ian (31 July 2024). "Swimming-China's Pan says unaffected by doping storm after 'perfect' world record". Reuters. Retrieved 15 March 2025.
  24. ^ 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.