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

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Women'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)
Competitors29 from 24 nations
Winning time52.16
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Sarah Sjöström  Sweden
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Torri Huske  United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Siobhán Haughey  Hong Kong
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Swimming at the
2024 Summer Olympics
Qualification
Freestyle
50 mmenwomen
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
400 mmenwomen
800 mmenwomen
1500 mmenwomen
Backstroke
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
Breaststroke
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
Butterfly
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
Individual medley
200 mmenwomen
400 mmenwomen
Freestyle relay
4 × 100 mmenwomen
4 × 200 mmenwomen
Medley relay
4 × 100 mmenmixedwomen
Marathon
10 kmmenwomen

The women'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. Since an Olympic size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of two lengths of the pool.

Australian Mollie O'Callaghan was the favourite to win the event, though Hong Kong's Siobhán Haughey, the Netherlands' Marrit Steenbergen, Sweden's Sarah Sjöström and Australia's Shayna Jack were also in contention. All of those swimmers progressed through to the final.

In the final, Sjöström won gold with a time of 52.16, the US' Torri Huske swam 52.29 for silver and Haughey won bronze with 52.33—0.01 seconds ahead of O'Callaghan who finished fourth with 52.34. Sjöström's win made her the first person to win medals in this event at non-consecutive Olympics, and she was also more than four years older than the second-oldest competitor in the final. The Guardian called it an "exceptionally close race".[1]

Background

[edit]

Australia's Mollie O'Callaghan won the event at the 2022 and 2023 World Championships, and had the second fastest qualifying time of 52.08. The fastest qualifying time belonged to Hong Kong's Siobhán Haughey who swam a time of 52.08 at the 2023 World Aquatics World Cup. Haughey was also the silver medallist at the 2020 Olympics, 2023 World Championships and 2024 World Championships. The Netherlands' Marrit Steenbergen won the event at the 2024 World Championships with the fourth fastest qualifying time of 52.26. Other contenders included Sweden's Sarah Sjöström and Australia's Shayna Jack, who swam the third and fifth fastest qualifying times, respectively, in relays at the 2023 World Championships.[2] Sjöström initially planned not to swim the event, but changed her mind shortly before the event commenced.[3][2][4]

The qualifying times of the top five qualifiers—Haughey, O'Callaghan, Sjöström, Steenbergen and Jack—were separated by 0.26 seconds.[2] Olympic champion Emma McKeon failed to qualify for the event.[2]

Both SwimSwam and Swimming World predicted O'Callaghan would win gold. SwimSwam predicted Sjöström would come second and Haughey would come third, while Swimming World predicted Haughey would come second and Steenbergen would come third.[2][5]

The event was held at Paris La Défense Arena, which was converted to a swimming pool for the swimming events.[6]

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).[7] For this event, the OQT was 53.61 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.[7][8] Finally, the rest of the spaces were filled by athletes who had met the Olympic Consideration Time (OCT), which was 53.88 for this event.[7] In total, 14 athletes qualified through achieving the OQT, 14 athletes qualified through universality places and one athlete qualified through achieving the OCT.[8]

Top 10 fastest qualification times[8]
Swimmer Country Time Competition
Siobhán Haughey  Hong Kong 00:52:02 2023 World Aquatics World Cup
Mollie O'Callaghan  Australia 00:52:08 2023 World Aquatics Championships
Sarah Sjöström  Sweden 00:52:24 2023 World Aquatics Championships
Marrit Steenbergen  Netherlands 00:52:26 2024 World Aquatics Championships
Shayna Jack  Australia 00:52:28 2023 World Aquatics Championships
Yang Junxuan  China 00:52:68 2024 Chinese Championships
Torri Huske  United States 00:52:90 2024 United States Olympic Trials
Anna Hopkin  Great Britain 00:53:09 2024 World Aquatics Championships
Gretchen Walsh  United States 00:53:13 2024 United States Olympic Trials
Wu Qingfeng  China 00:53:25 2024 Chinese Championships

Heats

[edit]

Four heats (preliminary rounds) took place on 30 July 2024, starting at 12:47.[a][9] The swimmers with the best 16 times in the heats advanced to the semifinals.[10] Sjöström swam the fastest qualifying time of 52.99, while Haughey, Steenbergen, O'Callaghan and Jack also all qualified.[11] Kayla Sanchez of the Philippines swam a time of 53.67 to qualify in joint tenth and break her country's national record.[12] Canada's Maggie Mac Neil qualified with the 16th fastest time, but withdrew from the event to focus on the relay events she was competing in.[13]

Results[9]
Rank Heat Lane Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 2 4 Sarah Sjöström  Sweden 52.99 Q
2 4 4 Siobhán Haughey  Hong Kong 53.02 Q
3 2 5 Yang Junxuan  China 53.05 Q
4 4 5 Marrit Steenbergen  Netherlands 53.22 Q
5 3 4 Mollie O'Callaghan  Australia 53.27 Q
6 3 5 Shayna Jack  Australia 53.40 Q
7 4 3 Torri Huske  United States 53.53 Q
8 2 3 Gretchen Walsh  United States 53.54 Q
9 3 2 Béryl Gastaldello  France 53.65 Q
10 3 3 Anna Hopkin  Great Britain 53.67 Q
4 1 Kayla Sanchez  Philippines 53.67 Q, NR
12 4 2 Marie Wattel  France 53.70 Q
13 4 6 Wu Qingfeng  China 54.03 Q
14 3 6 Michelle Coleman  Sweden 54.10 Q
15 4 7 Neža Klančar  Slovenia 54.12 Q
16 2 2 Maggie Mac Neil  Canada 54.16 Q, WD
17 2 6 Barbora Seemanová  Czech Republic 54.66 Q
18 2 7 Kalia Antoniou  Cyprus 54.75 R
19 3 1 Snæfríður Jórunnardóttir  Iceland 54.85
20 3 7 Kornelia Fiedkiewicz  Poland 55.25
21 3 8 Jana Pavalić  Croatia 55.77
22 4 8 Gloria Muzito  Uganda 55.95
23 2 1 Jillian Crooks  Cayman Islands 56.15
24 2 8 Nesrine Medjahed  Algeria 57.34
25 1 4 Paige van der Westhuizen  Zimbabwe 58.19
26 1 3 Tilly Collymore  Grenada 58.84
27 1 5 Maxine Egner  Botswana 58.98
28 1 6 Aleka Persaud  Guyana 1:01.29
29 1 2 Rana Saadeldin  Sudan 1:04.72

Semifinals

[edit]

Two semifinals took place on 30 July, starting at 21:33.[14] The swimmers with the eight best times in the semifinals advanced to the final.[10] Haughey won the first semifinal with the fastest qualifying time of 52.64, and Jack placed second to qualify with the second fastest time of 52.72. O'Callaghan won the second semifinal with the third fastest time of 52.75. China's Yang Junxuan qualified with the fourth fastest time, followed by Steenbergen, Sjöström, and then the US' Torri Huske and Gretchen Walsh.[15][14] Slovenian Neža Klančar swam a time of 53.96, which tied the national record but did not qualify her for the final.[16][14]

Results[14]
Rank Heat Lane Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 1 4 Siobhán Haughey  Hong Kong 52.64 Q
2 1 3 Shayna Jack  Australia 52.72 Q
3 2 3 Mollie O'Callaghan  Australia 52.75 Q
4 2 5 Yang Junxuan  China 52.81 Q
5 1 5 Marrit Steenbergen  Netherlands 52.86 Q
6 2 4 Sarah Sjöström  Sweden 52.87 Q
7 2 6 Torri Huske  United States 52.99 Q
8 1 6 Gretchen Walsh  United States 53.18 Q
9 2 1 Wu Qingfeng  China 53.34
10 1 7 Marie Wattel  France 53.38
11 1 2 Anna Hopkin  Great Britain 53.74
12 1 1 Michelle Coleman  Sweden 53.75
13 1 8 Barbora Seemanová  Czech Republic 53.94
14 2 8 Neža Klančar  Slovenia 53.96 NR
15 2 7 Kayla Sanchez  Philippines 54.21
16 2 2 Béryl Gastaldello  France 54.29

Final

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

The final took place at 20:30 on 31 July.[17] Sjöström swam what SwimSwam called a "balanced race" to win gold with a time of 52.16,[18][4] while Huske swam the fastest opening split and stayed ahead of everyone but Sjöström to win silver with 52.29. Haughey won bronze with 52.33—0.01 seconds ahead of O'Callaghan who finished fourth with 52.34.[18] After the race, O'Callaghan said she "expected a lot more".[19][20] The Guardian called the final an "exceptionally close race".[1]

The gold was Sjöström's first Olympic medal in the event since 2016, when she won bronze at the Rio Olympics.[18] This made her the first person to win medals in this event at non-consecutive Olympics,[21] and she was also more than four years older than the second-oldest competitor in the final.[19] It was Huske and Haughey's second Olympic medal of the games.[18] Haughey became the first swimmer to medal in both the 100 metre freestyle and 200 metre freestyle events at consecutive Olympics,[21] and it was her fourth Olympic medal—the most ever won by an athlete from Hong Kong.[22]

Results[17]
Rank Lane Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) 7 Sarah Sjöström  Sweden 52.16
2nd place, silver medalist(s) 1 Torri Huske  United States 52.29
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 4 Siobhán Haughey  Hong Kong 52.33
4 3 Mollie O'Callaghan  Australia 52.34
5 5 Shayna Jack  Australia 52.72
6 6 Yang Junxuan  China 52.82
7 2 Marrit Steenbergen  Netherlands 52.83
8 8 Gretchen Walsh  United States 53.04
Statistics[23]
Name 15 metre split (s) 50 metre split (s) 50–65 metre split (s) Time (s) Stroke rate (strokes/min)
Sarah Sjöström 6.18 25.26 7.56 52.16 51.6
Torri Huske 6.01 25.06 7.22 52.29 50.4
Siobhán Haughey 6.28 25.09 7.48 52.33 53.8
Mollie O'Callaghan 6.17 25.51 7.23 52.34 50.6
Shayna Jack 6.35 25.29 7.69 52.72 51.8
Yang Junxuan 6.36 25.51 7.85 52.82 54.0
Marrit Steenbergen 6.31 25.38 7.41 52.83 51.8
Gretchen Walsh 5.96 25.22 7.40 53.04 47.5

Notes

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

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Jeffery, Nicole (12 August 2024). "Australian swim duo stunned in 100m freestyle sprint upset at Paris Olympics". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 12 August 2024. Retrieved 28 March 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d e Li, Yanyan (15 July 2024). "2024 Olympic Previews: Will The Aussie Women Go Back-To-Back In The 100 Free?". SwimSwam. Archived from the original on 12 August 2024. Retrieved 23 March 2025.
  3. ^ Wong, Claire (8 February 2024). "Sarah Sjöström Reveals That She Will NOT Swim The 100 free At Paris 2024 Olympics". SwimSwam. Archived from the original on 7 February 2025. Retrieved 23 March 2025.
  4. ^ a b Ransom, Ian (31 July 2024). "Swimming-Late bid for 100m freestyle proves a winner for Sjostrom". Reuters. Retrieved 28 March 2025.
  5. ^ 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 23 March 2025.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ a b c "Paris 2024 – Swimming Info". World Aquatics. 5 April 2022. Archived from the original on 8 February 2023. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  8. ^ a b c Entries list - Swimming, World Aquatics, archived from the original on 12 July 2024, retrieved 18 December 2024
  9. ^ a b "Results" (PDF). olympics.com. International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 August 2024. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ Penland, Spencer (30 July 2024). "2024 Paris Olympics: Day 4 Prelims Live Recap". SwimSwam. Archived from the original on 15 January 2025. Retrieved 28 March 2025.
  12. ^ Alfonso Caramoan, Miguel (30 July 2024). "Philippines at the Olympics: Kayla Sanchez sets new national record, fails to advance". ESPN. Archived from the original on 2 August 2024. Retrieved 28 March 2025.
  13. ^ Varley, Kristylee (30 July 2024). "Mac Neil bows out of 100 metre Freestyle in Paris". CTV News. Archived from the original on 28 March 2025. Retrieved 28 March 2025.
  14. ^ a b c d "Results" (PDF). olympics.com. International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 August 2024. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
  15. ^ Wild, Mark (30 July 2024). "2024 Paris Olympics: Day 4 Finals Live Recap". SwimSwam. Archived from the original on 17 February 2025. Retrieved 28 March 2025.
  16. ^ "Neza KLANCAR | Results | World Aquatics Official". World Aquatics. Archived from the original on 20 January 2025. Retrieved 28 March 2025.
  17. ^ a b "Results" (PDF). olympics.com. International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 August 2024. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
  18. ^ 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 28 March 2025.
  19. ^ a b "O'Callaghan, Jack miss medal in 100m final". ESPN. 31 July 2024. Archived from the original on 5 August 2024. Retrieved 28 March 2025.
  20. ^ "'Really nervous': Mollie O'Callaghan reveals anxiety issue after being denied medal in 100m freestyle final". ABC News. 31 July 2024. Archived from the original on 1 October 2024. Retrieved 28 March 2025.
  21. ^ a b Bush, Bradley (31 July 2024). "2024 Paris Olympics Day 5 Finals: Fun Facts". SwimSwam. Archived from the original on 14 January 2025. Retrieved 28 March 2025.
  22. ^ Ogura, Tatsuo (4 August 2024). "Siobhan Haughey makes homeland proud with record-breaking Olympic achievements". World Aquatics. Archived from the original on 5 August 2024. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
  23. ^ 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.