The men's 200 metre freestyle event at the
2020 Summer Olympics
The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July.
Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...
was held from 25 to 27 July 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.
There were 39 competitors from 30 nations, with the ultimate numbers determined through the ongoing selection process, including universality places.
Background
It was the event's 16th appearance, having been held in 1900 and 1904 and then at every edition since 1968.
The only finalist from the 2016 Games to return was fifth-place finisher
Townley Haas
Francis Townley Haas (born December 13, 1996) is a retired American competitive swimmer who specialized in freestyle events. He is an Olympic gold medalist in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay from the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Ha ...
of the United States, who did not make the final this time. Reigning Olympic champion and two-time reigning World Champion
Sun Yang of China missed the Games due to a doping ban.
Qualification
The Olympic Qualifying Time for the event was 1:47.02. Up to two swimmers per
National Olympic Committee
A National Olympic Committee (NOC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, NOCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games ...
(NOC) could automatically qualify by swimming that time at an approved qualification event. The Olympic Selection Time was 1:50.23. Up to one swimmer per NOC meeting that time was eligible for selection, allocated by world ranking until the maximum quota for all swimming events is reached. NOCs without a male swimmer qualified in any event could also use their universality place.
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Competition format
The competition consisted of three rounds: heats, semifinals, and a final. The swimmers with the best 16 times in the heats advanced to the semifinals. The swimmers with the best 8 times in the semifinals advanced to the final. A swim-off were used to break a tie for advancement to the next round.
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
No new records were set during the competition.
Schedule
The event was moved to a three-day schedule, with each round on separate, consecutive days.[
All times are ]Japan Standard Time
, or , is the standard time zone in Japan, 9 hours ahead of UTC ( UTC+09:00). Japan does not observe daylight saving time, though its introduction has been debated on several occasions. During World War II, the time zone was often referred to a ...
(UTC+9)
Results
Heats
The swimmers with the top 16 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the semifinals.
;Swim-off
Semifinals
The swimmers with the best 8 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the final.
Final
200m freestyle final
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics - Men's 200 metre freestyle
Men's 00200 metre freestyle
Olympics
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
200 metre freestyle at the Olympics
Men's events at the 2020 Summer Olympics