The women's 100 metre breaststroke event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 10–12 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 2 ...
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 ...
.
After winning a silver medal in Sydney and a bronze in Athens, Australia's
Leisel Jones
Leisel Marie Jones, OAM (born 30 August 1985) is an Australian former competition swimmer and Olympic gold medallist. A participant in the 2000 Summer Olympics – at just 15 years old – and 2004 Summer Olympics, she was part of gold-medal ...
stormed home on the final lap to claim an elusive gold in the event. She established an Olympic record of 1:05.17, just eight-hundredths of a second (0.08) off her global standard.
Coming from fifth place in the turn, U.S. swimmer
Rebecca Soni
Rebecca Soni (born March 18, 1987) is an American former competition swimmer and breaststroke specialist who is a six-time Olympic medalist. She is a former world record-holder in the 100-meter breaststroke (short and long course) and the 200- ...
earned a silver medal in 1:06.73. Finishing fourth from the Olympic trials, she inherited a place in the event after
Jessica Hardy
Jessica Adele Hardy Meichtry (born March 12, 1987) is an American competitive swimmer who specializes in breaststroke and freestyle events. Hardy earned a bronze medal in the 4×100-meter freestyle and a gold medal in the 4×100-meter medley r ...
's sudden withdrawal from the Games because of a doping irregularity. Meanwhile,
Mirna Jukić
Mirna Jukić (born 9 April 1986) is a retired Austrian swimmer who won a bronze medal in both short course and long course at the world championships in swimming. She is trained by her father Željko Jukić, a former basketball player. She has ha ...
posted a time of 1:07.34 to settle for the bronze, holding off Russia's
Yuliya Yefimova (1:07.43) to fourth place by almost a tenth of a second (0.10).
[
]Megan Jendrick
Megan M. Jendrick ( Quann, born January 15, 1984) is an American former competition swimmer, former world record-holder, and fitness columnist. She won two gold medals at the 2000 Summer Olympics and a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics. J ...
, former Olympic champion from Sydney in 2000, finished fifth with a time of 1:07.62, edging out Aussie Tarnee White
Tarnee Renee White, OAM (born 17 October 1981), also known by her married name Tarnee Southwell, is an Australian breaststroke swimmer who won a silver medal in the 4×100-metre medley relay at the 2000 Summer Olympics.
Coming from the Redc ...
(1:07.63) in a close race by a hundredth of a second (0.01). China's Sun Ye
Sun Ye (; born January 15, 1989, in Shanghai) is an Olympic medal winning swimmer from China. She swam for China at the 2008 Olympics, where she was part of China's 400 Medley Relay which finished 3rd, and the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Major achi ...
(1:08.08) and Japan's Asami Kitagawa (1:08.43) rounded out the finale.[
Earlier in the prelims, Jones opened up her meet by breaking a new Olympic record of 1:05.64, exactly a full second faster than a winning time set by ]Luo Xuejuan
Luo Xuejuan (also Luo Xue Juan; ; born January 26, 1984, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang) is a female Chinese swimmer, who competed mostly in the breaststroke. She is a former world record holder in the 50-meter breastroke (short course).
Career
She beg ...
in Athens four years earlier.
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 - Women's 100 Metre Breaststroke
Women's breaststroke 100 metre
2008 in women's swimming
Women's events at the 2008 Summer Olympics