Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre freestyle
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The men's 200 metre freestyle event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 17–18 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia.[1] There were 51 competitors from 44 nations, with each nation having up to two swimmers (a limit in place since 1984).[2]
Men's 200 metre freestyle at the Games of the XXVII Olympiad | ||||||||||
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Venue | Sydney International Aquatic Centre | |||||||||
Dates | September 17, 2000 (heats & semifinals) September 18, 2000 (final) | |||||||||
Competitors | 51 from 44 nations | |||||||||
Winning time | 1:45.35 =WR | |||||||||
Medalists | ||||||||||
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Dutchman Pieter van den Hoogenband edged out Australia's top favorite Ian Thorpe on the final lap to claim a gold medal in the event. Stunning a massive home crowd, he touched the wall first in 1:45.35 to match his own world record from the semifinals.[3][4] As a result of starting harder than usual, Thorpe ended up only with a silver in 1:45.83, while Italy's Massimiliano Rosolino added a bronze to his hardware from the 400 m freestyle in a time 1:46.65.[5][6] The medals were the first in the men's 200 metre freestyle for both the Netherlands and Italy.
U.S. swimmer Josh Davis missed the podium by six hundredths of a second (0.06), finishing with a new American record of 1:46.73. Davis was followed in fifth and sixth by British duo Paul Palmer (1:47.95) and James Salter (1:48.74).[7] Canada's Rick Say (1:48.76) and another Aussie Grant Hackett (1:49.46) closed out the field.[6]
Earlier in the semifinals, Van den Hoogenband blasted a new world record of 1:45.35, slashing 0.16 seconds off the mark set by Thorpe from the Australian trials. One heat later, Thorpe powered home with a second-fastest time of 1:45.37, but missed taking the record back by two hundredths of a second (0.02).[4] He also erased Yevgeny Sadovyi's 1992 Olympic record by 0.14 seconds to pick up a top seed from the prelims (1:46.56).[8][9]