50 metres Freestyle, Women

Australian Cate Campbell had been expected to sweep the 50-100 sprint freestyles in Rio, but she had already stumbled in the 100, placing sixth and not even making the podium. Her biggest challenger was expected to be her sister, Bronte Campbell, who had won the 2015 World title in the event. Defending gold medalist Ranomi Kromowidjojo from the Netherlands had finished second to Bronte at Kazan and had recently won the 2016 European Championships. Other contenders included Sweden’s Sarah Sjoström, Great Britain’s Fran Halsall, and the two Americans, Abbey Weitzeil and Simone Manuel.

Note that that list did not include Denmark’s Pernille Blume, previously known primarily as a short-course sprinter. Despite the absence of any turns, she came through in Rio for the gold medal, setting a Danish record of 24.07, with Manuel taking silver in 24.09. The bronze was another upset, going to Belarussian Aleksandra Gerasimenya, who had been the silver medalist in London, but done very little since then. Cate and Bronte finished fifth and seventh, respectively, in what was a very disappointing Olympics for them. The final was incredibly close, with only 12/100ths of a second separating 1st and 6th place.