The men's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 12–14 August at the
Beijing National Aquatics Center
The National Aquatics Centre (), and colloquially known as the Water Cube () and the Ice Cube (), is an aquatics center at the Olympic Green in Beijing, China.
The facility was originally constructed to host the aquatics competitions at the ...
in
Beijing, China
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Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
.
Japan's
Kosuke Kitajima
is a Japanese retired breaststroke swimmer. He won gold medals at the men's 100 m and 200 m breaststroke events at the 2004 Summer Olympics, and the 2008 Summer Olympics – becoming the first and only swimmer to sweep the breaststroke events at ...
blasted a new Olympic record of 2:07.64 to strike another breaststroke double, and to defend his title in the event. He registered a straightforward triumph over
Brenton Rickard
Brenton Scott Rickard (born 19 October 1983) is a retired breaststroke swimmer from Australia. He emerged at the international level in 2006, swimming at the Commonwealth games. He has captured multiple Olympic and World Championship medals, as ...
, who earned a silver medal in an Australian record of 2:08.88. France's
Hugues Duboscq
Hugues Duboscq (born 29 August 1981 in Saint-Lô, Manche, France) is an Olympic breaststroke swimmer from France. He swam for France at the 2000, 2004, 2008 Olympics and 2012 Olympics. He has won three Olympic bronze medals.
At the 2009 World C ...
added a second bronze and third overall to his collection in 2:08.94, finishing just ahead of Canada's
Mike Brown by almost a tenth of a second (0.10) with a time of 2:09.03.
Hungary's
Dániel Gyurta
Dániel Gyurta (; born 4 May 1989) is a Hungarian former competitive swimmer who mainly competed in the 200-metre breaststroke. In 2016, Gyurta became a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), he is a member of the European Olympic ...
, silver medalist in Athens four years earlier, finished outside the medals in fifth place at 2:09.22.
[ Earlier in the prelims, he established an Olympic record by winning the final of seven heats in 2:08.68.]Loris Facci
Loris Facci (born 13 August 1983 in Torino) is a breaststroke swimmer from Italy, who won the on bronze medal in the men's 200 metres breaststroke event at the 2007 World Championships. He represented his native country at the 2004 Summer Olympi ...
(2:10.57) and Paolo Bossini
Paolo Bossini (born 29 June 1985 in Villa Carcina, Brescia) is an Italian breaststroke swimmer. He was European Champion in 2004, both short and long course, in 200 m breaststroke. He achieved the 4th place in the same distance in the 200 ...
(2:11.48) closed out the field.[ Bossini set a new Olympic record of 2:08.98 to shave 0.46 seconds off Kitajima's mark in Athens, until Gyurta took three-tenths of a second (0.30) off the record time a few minutes later.]Eric Shanteau
Eric Lee Shanteau (born October 1, 1983) is an American former competition swimmer who won two gold medals as a member of winning United States relay teams at the World Championships. He was a member of the 2008 and 2012 U.S. Olympic teams, and ...
, who entered the Games while battling testicular cancer, and Kazakhstan's Vladislav Polyakov
Vladislav Vitalyevich Polyakov (also ''Vlad Polyakov'', russian: Владислав Витальевич Поляков; born 30 November 1983 in Petropavlovsk) is a Kazakhstani swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events. He swam for his na ...
, who finished fifth in Athens four years earlier. Norway's Alexander Dale Oen
Alexander Dale Oen (; 21 May 198530 April 2012) was a Norwegian swimmer. He represented the clubs Vestkantsvømmerne (1995–2010) and Bærumsvømmerne (2011–2012). Dale Oen's gold at the 2008 European Championships made him the first Norwegi ...
, silver medalist in the 100 m breaststroke, placed seventeenth in 2:11.30, but missed the semifinals by 0.11 seconds.[
]
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
Results
Heats
Semifinals
Semifinal 1
Semifinal 2
Final
References
External links
Official Olympic Report
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swimming At The 2008 Summer Olympics - Men's 200 Metre Breaststroke
Men's breaststroke 200 metre
Men's events at the 2008 Summer Olympics