Swimming at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre freestyle
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The men's
100 metre freestyle The 100 metre freestyle is often considered to be the highlight (Blue Ribbon event) of the sport of swimming, like 100 metres in the sport of Athletics. The first swimmer to break the one-minute barrier (long course) was Johnny Weissmuller, in 1 ...
event at the
1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...
took place on 22 September at the
Jamsil Indoor Swimming Pool Jamsil Indoor Swimming Pool () is an aquatics venue located in Seoul, South Korea. It hosted the swimming, diving, water polo, synchronized swimming, and the swimming part of the modern pentathlon events at the 1988 Summer Olympics. The venue wa ...
in
Seoul, South Korea Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...
. There were 77 competitors from 51 nations. Nations had been limited to two swimmers each since the 1984 Games. American
Matt Biondi Matt may refer to: *Matt (name), people with the given name ''Matt'' or Matthew, meaning "gift from God", or the surname Matt *In British English, of a surface: having a non-glossy finish, see gloss (material appearance) *Matt, Switzerland, a mu ...
set a new Olympic record to claim his first ever individual gold and fourth medal in swimming at these Games (fifth in his career, with a relay gold in 1984). Maintaining a lead from start to finish, he pulled away from a star-studded field to hit the wall first in 48.63. Biondi also enjoyed his teammate Chris Jacobs taking home the silver in 49.08, as the Americans climbed on the top two steps of the podium for the sixth time in the event's Olympic history. Earlier in the prelims, Jacobs sliced off
Rowdy Gaines Ambrose "Rowdy" Gaines IV (born February 17, 1959) is an American former competitive swimmer, U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame member, three-time Olympic gold medalist, and member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame. He is a swimming analyst fo ...
' 1984 record by six-tenths of a second to establish a new Olympic standard of 49.20 in the eighth heat, until Biondi eventually lowered it to 49.04 in the final of ten heats. Meanwhile, France's
Stéphan Caron Stéphan Caron (sometimes spelled Stéphane Caron, born 1 July 1966 in Rouen, Seine-Maritime) is a former Freestyle swimming, freestyle swimmer from France. Caron won the bronze medal in the men's 100 m freestyle at the Summer Olympics twi ...
held off an intense sprint battle against Soviet duo
Gennadiy Prigoda Gennadiy Sergeyevich Prigoda (russian: Геннадий Серге́евич Пригода; born 2 May 1965) is a former freestyle swimmer from Russia, who competed twice at the Summer Olympics first for the Soviet Union in 1988, and then for ...
and Iurie Başcatov to take home the bronze in 49.62.


Background

This was the 20th appearance of the men's 100 metre freestyle. The event has been held at every Summer Olympics except 1900 (when the shortest freestyle was the 200 metres), though the 1904 version was measured in yards rather than metres. Three of the eight finalists from the 1984 Games returned: two-time bronze medalist Per Johansson of Sweden, fifth-place finisher
Dano Halsall Dano Halsall (born February 16, 1963) is a former freestyle swimmer from Switzerland, who competed in three Summer Olympics for his native country, starting in 1984. Halsall was born in Geneva. His mother is Swiss and his father was bor ...
of Switzerland, and sixth-place finisher
Stéphan Caron Stéphan Caron (sometimes spelled Stéphane Caron, born 1 July 1966 in Rouen, Seine-Maritime) is a former Freestyle swimming, freestyle swimmer from France. Caron won the bronze medal in the men's 100 m freestyle at the Summer Olympics twi ...
of France. Caron was also the runner-up in the 1986 world championships behind
Matt Biondi Matt may refer to: *Matt (name), people with the given name ''Matt'' or Matthew, meaning "gift from God", or the surname Matt *In British English, of a surface: having a non-glossy finish, see gloss (material appearance) *Matt, Switzerland, a mu ...
of the United States. Biondi had come to Seoul with the goal of matching
Mark Spitz Mark Andrew Spitz (born February 10, 1950) is an American former competitive swimmer and nine-time Olympic champion. He was the most successful athlete at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, winning seven gold medals, each in world-record ti ...
's seven gold medals in a single Games. That goal had already been frustrated by the time of the 100 metre freestyle (his best race), as his first three events had resulted in only one golds along with a silver and a bronze. Biondi still had an excellent chance of achieving as many gold medals (5) as anyone not named Spitz had before 1988, however, with the 100 free, 50 free, and two relays to go, though
Kristin Otto Kristin Otto (; born 7 February 1966) is a German Olympic swimming champion. She is most famous for being the first woman to win six gold medals at a single Olympic Games, doing so at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games.
was on her way towards 6 golds in Seoul as well. Guam, Senegal, the United Arab Emirates, and Uruguay each made their debut in the event. The United States made its 19th appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.


Competition format

This
freestyle swimming Freestyle is a category of swimming competition, defined by the rules of the International Swimming Federation (FINA), in which competitors are subject to a few limited restrictions on their swimming stroke. Freestyle races are the most commo ...
competition used the A/B final format instituted in 1984. The competition consisted of two rounds: heats and finals. The swimmers with the best 8 times in the semifinals advanced to the A final, competing for medals through 8th place. The swimmers with the next 8 times in the semifinals competed in the B final for 9th through 16th place. Swim-offs were used as necessary to determine advancement.


Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows. The following records were established during the competition:


Schedule

All times are Korea Standard Time adjusted for daylight savings (
UTC+10 UTC+10:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +10:00. This time is used in: As standard time (year-round) ''Principal cities: Brisbane, Gold Coast, Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Port Moresby, Dededo, Saipan'' North Asia *Russia – Vl ...
)


Results


Heats

Rule: The eight fastest swimmers advance to final A, while the next eight to final B.


Finals


Final B


Final A


References


External links


Official Report

USA Swimming
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swimming at the 1988 Summer Olympics - Men's 100 metre freestyle Swimming at the 1988 Summer Olympics Men's events at the 1988 Summer Olympics