The women's 100 metre freestyle event at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

took place on 20–21 September at the

Sydney International Aquatic Centre The Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre (SOPAC) , formerly Sydney International Aquatic Centre (SIAC), is a swimming pool, swimming venue located in the Sydney Olympic Park in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Built in 1994, the SOPAC was a majo ...

Sydney, Australia Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...

. Dutch rising star

Inge de Bruijn Inge de Bruijn (; born 24 August 1973) is a Dutch former competitive swimmer. She is a four-time Olympic champion and a former world record-holder. Personal De Bruijn was born in Barendrecht, Netherlands. Inge is the sister of Olympic water ...

stormed home on the final lap to claim her second gold at these Games. She powered past her rivals in a star-studded field to touch the wall first in 53.83. Earlier in the semifinals, she delivered a time of 53.77 to erase her own world record by 0.03 of a second. Almost stealing the race from lane one,

Therese Alshammar Malin Therese Alshammar (born 26 August 1977) is a Swedish swimmer who has won three Olympic medals, 25 World Championship medals, and 43 European Championship medals. She is a specialist in short distances races in freestyle and butterfly. She ...

took home the silver in a Swedish record of 54.33. Meanwhile, top favorites

Dara Torres Dara Grace Torres (born April 15, 1967) is an American former competitive swimmer, who is a 12-time Olympic medalist and former world record-holder in three events. Torres is the first swimmer to represent the United States in five Olympic Gam ...

and

Jenny Thompson Jennifer Beth Thompson (born February 26, 1973) is an American former competition swimmer and anesthesiologist. She is one of the most decorated Olympians in history: twelve medals, including eight gold medals, in the 1992, 1996, 2000, and 200 ...

gave the Americans a further reason to celebrate, as they shared bronze medals in a matching time of 54.63. This was also Thompson's ninth career medal at these Games, making her the most decorated female swimmer in Olympic history. Slovakia's

Martina Moravcová Martina Moravcová (born 16 January 1976) is a Slovak medley, butterfly, and freestyle swimmer. She made her international swimming debut in 1991 for Czechoslovakia, and has gone on to compete in five consecutive Summer Olympics (1992–2008). ...

, who captured two silver medals in swimming, finished outside the podium in fifth place at 54.72. South Africa's

Helene Muller Karina Helene Muller (also ''Helene Muller''; born 25 April 1978) is a South African former swimmer, who specialised in sprint and middle-distance freestyle events. She represented South Africa in two editions of the Olympic Games (1996 and 2000 ...

managed to pull off a sixth-place finish in an African standard of 55.19. Japan's Sumika Minamoto (55.53) and De Bruijn's teammate Wilma van Rijn (55.58) closed out the field. Notable swimmers failed to reach the top 8 final, featuring Australia's overwhelming favorites Sarah Ryan and Susie O'Neill, Germany's

Sandra Völker Sandra Völker (born 1 April 1974) is a retired freestyle and backstroke swimmer from Germany, who won a total number of three (one silver, two bronze) medals at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, United States. There she made her second Olymp ...

, silver medalist in Atlanta four years earlier, and Egypt's

Rania Elwani Dr. Rania Elwani ( ar, رانيا علواني; born 14 October 1977)Elwani's bio page
from the website of th ...

, who surprisingly reached the semifinals from an unseeded heat.

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

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Swimming At The 2000 Summer Olympics - Women's 100 Metre Freestyle F 2000 in women's swimming Women's events at the 2000 Summer Olympics