| | Event type

50 metres Freestyle, Men

Date	21 – 22 September 2000
Status	Olympic
Location	Sydney International Aquatic Centre, Olympic Park, Sydney, New South Wales
Participants	77 from 71 countries

A few months after he had successfully defended his Olympic 50 metres freestyle title in Atlanta Aleksandr Popov was stabbed in the stomach by a watermelon seller in Moscow. The knife barely missed his kidney and grazed his lung but he recovered and was runner-up behind American Bill Pillczuk at the 1998 World Championships. Pilczuk failed to make the US Olympic team but the Americans, in the shape of Gary Hall, Jr. and Anthony Ervin, were still seen as Popov’s closest rivals. Popov broke Tom Jager’s longstanding world record in March 2000 then saw Hall also go under the old mark at the US trials.

Drawn in adjacent lanes in the Olympic final Popov and Hall both started well as did Hall’s American team mate Anthony Ervin. As Popov’s challenge faded the two Americans matched each other stroke by stroke as the wall approached. Incredibly the two men finished simultaneously in 21.98 seconds and shared the Olympic title.

In 2005 Ervin sold his gold medal for $17,000 to aid victims of the Asian tsunami. In 2012 he returned from retirement to claim a place on his second Olympic team – 12 years after his first.

Pos	Competitor	NOC	R1	SF	Final
=1	Gary Hall, Jr.	USA	22.14 (2 h9)	22.07 (1 h1)	21.98 (=1)	Gold
=1	Anthony Ervin	USA	22.24 (1 h8)	22.13 (2 h1)	21.98 (=1)	Gold
3	Pieter van den Hoogenband	NED	22.32 (2 h10)	22.11 (1 h2)	22.03 (3)	Bronze
4	Lorenzo Vismara	ITA	22.62 (4 h8)	22.30 (3 h2)	22.11 (4)
5	Bartosz Kizierowski	POL	22.05 (1 h9)	22.35 (4 h2)	22.22 (5)
6	Aleksandr Popov	RUS	22.15 (1 h10)	22.17 (2 h2)	22.24 (6)
7	Mark Foster	GBR	22.65 (5 h8)	22.32 (3 h1)	22.41 (7)
8	Oleksandr Volynets	UKR	22.52 (1 h6)	22.36 (5 h2)	22.51 (8)
9	Brendon Dedekind	RSA	22.46 (3 h9)	22.39 (4 h1)	–
10	Chris Fydler	AUS	22.80 (5 h10)	22.41 (5 h1)	–
11	Roland Schoeman	RSA	22.53 (4 h10)	22.41 (6 h2)	–
12	Johan Kenkhuis	NED	22.61 (4 h9)	22.47 (6 h1)	–
13	Brett Hawke	AUS	22.45 (3 h10)	22.49 (7 h2)	–
14	Stefan Nystrand	SWE	22.53 (3 h8)	22.49 (7 h1)	–
15	Ricardo Busquets	PUR	22.42 (2 h8)	22.51 (8 h1)	–
16	Denis Pimankov	RUS	22.74 (5 h9)	22.89 (8 h2)	–
=17	Jiang Chengji	CHN	22.82 (1 h7)	–	–
=17	Kim Min-Seok	KOR	22.82 (2 h6)	–	–
19	Julio Santos	ECU	22.83 (6 h10)	–	–
20	Xuxa Scherer	BRA	22.88 (6 h9)	–	–
21	José Meolans	ARG	22.89 (6 h8)	–	–
22	Salim Iles	ALG	22.95 (7 h8)	–	–
=23	Edvaldo Valério	BRA	22.96 (7 h10)	–	–
=23	Eduardo Lorente	ESP	22.96 (8 h8)	–	–
25	Peter Mankoč	SLO	23.02 (3 h6)	–	–
26	Attila Zubor	HUN	23.03 (2 h7)	–	–
27	Stavros Michailidis	CYP	23.05 (4 h6)	–	–
28	Stephan Kunzelmann	GER	23.08 (3 h7)	–	–
29	Indrek Sei	EST	23.11 (8 h10)	–	–
30	Ravil Nachayev	UZB	23.12 (1 h5)	–	–
31	Christoph Bühler	SUI	23.15 (4 h7)	–	–
32	Marijan Kanjer	CRO	23.16 (5 h7)	–	–
33	Marcos Hernández	CUB	23.20 (6 h7)	–	–
=34	Dzmitry Kalinovski	BLR	23.21 (7 h7)	–	–
=34	Yoav Bruck	ISR	23.21 (5 h6)	–	–
36	Pedro Silva	POR	23.27 (8 h7)	–	–
37	Allan Murray	BAH	23.34 (2 h5)	–	–
38	Rolandas Gimbutis	LTU	23.36 (6 h6)	–	–
39	Thierry Wouters	BEL	23.44 (7 h6)	–	–
40	Sergey Borisenko	KAZ	23.46 (1 h4)	–	–
41	Sergey Ashikhmin	KGZ	23.53 (2 h4)	–	–
42	Richard Bera	INA	23.56 (3 h5)	–	–
43	Nebojša Bikić	SCG	23.57 (4 h5)	–	–
44	Camilo Becerra	COL	23.63 (5 h5)	–	–
45	Esteban Blanco	CRC	23.72 (1 h3)	–	–
46	Tamer Zinhom	EGY	23.77 (6 h5)	–	–
47	Serghei Stolearenco	MDA	23.84 (3 h4)	–	–
48	Paul Kutscher	URU	23.90 (4 h4)	–	–
=49	Luis López	PER	24.00 (=5 h4)	–	–
=49	Leslie Kwok	SGP	24.00 (=5 h4)	–	–
51	Huang Chih-Yung	TPE	24.01 (7 h4)	–	–
52	Howard Hinds	AHO	24.07 (2 h3)	–	–
53	Harbeth Fu	HKG	24.20 (8 h4)	–	–
54	Zurab Beridze	GEO	24.28 (3 h3)	–	–
55	Rodrigo Olivares	CHI	24.50 (7 h5)	–	–
56	Ayoub Al-Mas	UAE	24.91 (4 h3)	–	–
57	Omar Hughes	GRN	25.05 (5 h3)	–	–
58	Dimitri Margaryan	ARM	25.29 (6 h3)	–	–
59	Jamie Peterkin	LCA	25.33 (1 h2)	–	–
60	Emin Quliyev	AZE	25.36 (7 h3)	–	–
61	Wael Saeed	QAT	25.43 (1 h1)	–	–
62	Davy Bisslik	ARU	25.57 (2 h2)	–	–
63	João Aguiar	ANG	25.70 (8 h3)	–	–
64	Mohammed Abdul Ilah	IRQ	25.84 (3 h2)	–	–
65	Ilidio Matusse	MOZ	26.28 (4 h2)	–	–
66	Hem Kiry	CAM	26.41 (5 h2)	–	–
67	Kenneth Maronie	DMA	26.65 (6 h2)	–	–
68	Khalid Al-Kulaibi	OMA	26.96 (7 h2)	–	–
69	Chitra Bahadur Gurung	NEP	27.02 (2 h1)	–	–
70	Sikhounxay Ounkhamphanyavong	LAO	27.03 (8 h2)	–	–
71	Anlloyd Samuel	PLW	27.24 (3 h1)	–	–
72	Stephenson Wallace	VIN	27.84 (4 h1)	–	–
73	Hassan Mubah	MDV	28.86 (5 h1)	–	–
74	Bakary Sereme	MLI	29.69 (6 h1)	–	–
75	Samson Ndayishimiye	RWA	38.76 (7 h1)	–	–
DQ	Craig Hutchison	CAN	– (DQ h6)	–	–
DQ	Mohamed Abdul Hamid	SUD	– (DQ h1)	–	–
DNS	Romain Barnier	FRA	– (DNS h9)	–	–
DNS	Lars Frölander	SWE	– (DNS h9)	–	–
DNS	Francisco Sánchez	VEN	– (DNS h5)	–	–

Round One

Date	21 September 2000
Format	Fastest 16 advanced to the semi-finals.

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Bartosz Kizierowski	POL	22.05	Q
2	–	Gary Hall, Jr.	USA	22.14	Q
3	–	Aleksandr Popov	RUS	22.15	Q
4	–	Anthony Ervin	USA	22.24	Q
5	–	Pieter van den Hoogenband	NED	22.32	Q
6	–	Ricardo Busquets	PUR	22.42	Q
7	–	Brett Hawke	AUS	22.45	Q
8	–	Brendon Dedekind	RSA	22.46	Q
9	–	Oleksandr Volynets	UKR	22.52	Q
=10	–	Stefan Nystrand	SWE	22.53	Q
=10	–	Roland Schoeman	RSA	22.53	Q
12	–	Johan Kenkhuis	NED	22.61	Q
13	–	Lorenzo Vismara	ITA	22.62	Q
14	–	Mark Foster	GBR	22.65	Q
15	–	Denis Pimankov	RUS	22.74	Q
16	–	Chris Fydler	AUS	22.80	Q
=17	–	Kim Min-Seok	KOR	22.82
=17	–	Jiang Chengji	CHN	22.82
19	–	Julio Santos	ECU	22.83
20	–	Xuxa Scherer	BRA	22.88
21	–	José Meolans	ARG	22.89
22	–	Salim Iles	ALG	22.95
=23	–	Eduardo Lorente	ESP	22.96
=23	–	Edvaldo Valério	BRA	22.96
25	–	Peter Mankoč	SLO	23.02
26	–	Attila Zubor	HUN	23.03
27	–	Stavros Michailidis	CYP	23.05
28	–	Stephan Kunzelmann	GER	23.08
29	–	Indrek Sei	EST	23.11
30	–	Ravil Nachayev	UZB	23.12
31	–	Christoph Bühler	SUI	23.15
32	–	Marijan Kanjer	CRO	23.16
33	–	Marcos Hernández	CUB	23.20
=34	–	Yoav Bruck	ISR	23.21
=34	–	Dzmitry Kalinovski	BLR	23.21
36	–	Pedro Silva	POR	23.27
37	–	Allan Murray	BAH	23.34
38	–	Rolandas Gimbutis	LTU	23.36
39	–	Thierry Wouters	BEL	23.44
40	–	Sergey Borisenko	KAZ	23.46
41	–	Sergey Ashikhmin	KGZ	23.53
42	–	Richard Bera	INA	23.56
43	–	Nebojša Bikić	SCG	23.57
44	–	Camilo Becerra	COL	23.63
45	–	Esteban Blanco	CRC	23.72
46	–	Tamer Zinhom	EGY	23.77
47	–	Serghei Stolearenco	MDA	23.84
48	–	Paul Kutscher	URU	23.90
=49	–	Leslie Kwok	SGP	24.00
=49	–	Luis López	PER	24.00
51	–	Huang Chih-Yung	TPE	24.01
52	–	Howard Hinds	AHO	24.07
53	–	Harbeth Fu	HKG	24.20
54	–	Zurab Beridze	GEO	24.28
55	–	Rodrigo Olivares	CHI	24.50
56	–	Ayoub Al-Mas	UAE	24.91
57	–	Omar Hughes	GRN	25.05
58	–	Dimitri Margaryan	ARM	25.29
59	–	Jamie Peterkin	LCA	25.33
60	–	Emin Quliyev	AZE	25.36
61	–	Wael Saeed	QAT	25.43
62	–	Davy Bisslik	ARU	25.57
63	–	João Aguiar	ANG	25.70
64	–	Mohammed Abdul Ilah	IRQ	25.84
65	–	Ilidio Matusse	MOZ	26.28
66	–	Hem Kiry	CAM	26.41
67	–	Kenneth Maronie	DMA	26.65
68	–	Khalid Al-Kulaibi	OMA	26.96
69	–	Chitra Bahadur Gurung	NEP	27.02
70	–	Sikhounxay Ounkhamphanyavong	LAO	27.03
71	–	Anlloyd Samuel	PLW	27.24
72	–	Stephenson Wallace	VIN	27.84
73	–	Hassan Mubah	MDV	28.86
74	–	Bakary Sereme	MLI	29.69
75	–	Samson Ndayishimiye	RWA	38.76
DQ	–	Mohamed Abdul Hamid	SUD	–		1
DQ	–	Craig Hutchison	CAN	–		2
DNS	–	Francisco Sánchez	VEN	–
DNS	–	Romain Barnier	FRA	–
DNS	–	Lars Frölander	SWE	–

Heat #1

Time	10:02

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time
1	–	Wael Saeed	QAT	25.43	0.78
2	–	Chitra Bahadur Gurung	NEP	27.02	0.87
3	–	Anlloyd Samuel	PLW	27.24	0.71
4	–	Stephenson Wallace	VIN	27.84	0.87
5	–	Hassan Mubah	MDV	28.86	0.85
6	–	Bakary Sereme	MLI	29.69	0.86
7	–	Samson Ndayishimiye	RWA	38.76	0.81
DQ	–	Mohamed Abdul Hamid	SUD	–	–	3

Heat #2

Time	10:04

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time
1	–	Jamie Peterkin	LCA	25.33	0.89
2	–	Davy Bisslik	ARU	25.57	0.74
3	–	Mohammed Abdul Ilah	IRQ	25.84	0.66
4	–	Ilidio Matusse	MOZ	26.28	0.77
5	–	Hem Kiry	CAM	26.41	0.74
6	–	Kenneth Maronie	DMA	26.65	0.82
7	–	Khalid Al-Kulaibi	OMA	26.96	0.76
8	–	Sikhounxay Ounkhamphanyavong	LAO	27.03	0.82

Heat #3

Time	10:06

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time
1	–	Esteban Blanco	CRC	23.72	0.83
2	–	Howard Hinds	AHO	24.07	0.74
3	–	Zurab Beridze	GEO	24.28	0.81
4	–	Ayoub Al-Mas	UAE	24.91	0.82
5	–	Omar Hughes	GRN	25.05	0.77
6	–	Dimitri Margaryan	ARM	25.29	0.76
7	–	Emin Quliyev	AZE	25.36	0.76
8	–	João Aguiar	ANG	25.70	0.78

Heat #4

Time	10:08

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time
1	–	Sergey Borisenko	KAZ	23.46	0.86
2	–	Sergey Ashikhmin	KGZ	23.53	0.85
3	–	Serghei Stolearenco	MDA	23.84	0.75
4	–	Paul Kutscher	URU	23.90	0.73
=5	–	Leslie Kwok	SGP	24.00	0.73
=5	–	Luis López	PER	24.00	0.73
7	–	Huang Chih-Yung	TPE	24.01	0.68
8	–	Harbeth Fu	HKG	24.20	0.80

Heat #5

Time	10:10

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time
1	–	Ravil Nachayev	UZB	23.12	0.78
2	–	Allan Murray	BAH	23.34	0.70
3	–	Richard Bera	INA	23.56	0.68
4	–	Nebojša Bikić	SCG	23.57	0.84
5	–	Camilo Becerra	COL	23.63	0.72
6	–	Tamer Zinhom	EGY	23.77	0.82
7	–	Rodrigo Olivares	CHI	24.50	0.81
DNS	–	Francisco Sánchez	VEN	–	–

Heat #6

Time	10:12

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time
1	–	Oleksandr Volynets	UKR	22.52	0.86	Q
2	–	Kim Min-Seok	KOR	22.82	0.85
3	–	Peter Mankoč	SLO	23.02	0.80
4	–	Stavros Michailidis	CYP	23.05	0.71
5	–	Yoav Bruck	ISR	23.21	0.79
6	–	Rolandas Gimbutis	LTU	23.36	0.88
7	–	Thierry Wouters	BEL	23.44	0.79
DQ	–	Craig Hutchison	CAN	–	–		4

Heat #7

Time	10:14

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time
1	–	Jiang Chengji	CHN	22.82	0.73
2	–	Attila Zubor	HUN	23.03	0.79
3	–	Stephan Kunzelmann	GER	23.08	0.80
4	–	Christoph Bühler	SUI	23.15	0.80
5	–	Marijan Kanjer	CRO	23.16	0.74
6	–	Marcos Hernández	CUB	23.20	0.69
7	–	Dzmitry Kalinovski	BLR	23.21	0.75
8	–	Pedro Silva	POR	23.27	0.73

Heat #8

Time	10:16

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time
1	–	Anthony Ervin	USA	22.24	0.71	Q
2	–	Ricardo Busquets	PUR	22.42	0.62	Q
3	–	Stefan Nystrand	SWE	22.53	0.73	Q
4	–	Lorenzo Vismara	ITA	22.62	0.82	Q
5	–	Mark Foster	GBR	22.65	0.82	Q
6	–	José Meolans	ARG	22.89	0.80
7	–	Salim Iles	ALG	22.95	0.74
8	–	Eduardo Lorente	ESP	22.96	0.76

Heat #9

Time	10:19

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time
1	–	Bartosz Kizierowski	POL	22.05	0.72	Q
2	–	Gary Hall, Jr.	USA	22.14	0.71	Q
3	–	Brendon Dedekind	RSA	22.46	0.67	Q
4	–	Johan Kenkhuis	NED	22.61	0.78	Q
5	–	Denis Pimankov	RUS	22.74	0.79	Q
6	–	Xuxa Scherer	BRA	22.88	0.78
DNS	–	Romain Barnier	FRA	–	–
DNS	–	Lars Frölander	SWE	–	–

Heat #10

Time	10:22

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time
1	–	Aleksandr Popov	RUS	22.15	0.86	Q
2	–	Pieter van den Hoogenband	NED	22.32	0.86	Q
3	–	Brett Hawke	AUS	22.45	0.72	Q
4	–	Roland Schoeman	RSA	22.53	0.69	Q
5	–	Chris Fydler	AUS	22.80	0.74	Q
6	–	Julio Santos	ECU	22.83	0.69
7	–	Edvaldo Valério	BRA	22.96	0.72
8	–	Indrek Sei	EST	23.11	0.73

Semi-Finals

Date	21 September 2000
Format	Fastest eight advanced to the final.

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Gary Hall, Jr.	USA	22.07	Q
2	–	Pieter van den Hoogenband	NED	22.11	Q
3	–	Anthony Ervin	USA	22.13	Q
4	–	Aleksandr Popov	RUS	22.17	Q
5	–	Lorenzo Vismara	ITA	22.30	Q
6	–	Mark Foster	GBR	22.32	Q
7	–	Bartosz Kizierowski	POL	22.35	Q
8	–	Oleksandr Volynets	UKR	22.36	Q
9	–	Brendon Dedekind	RSA	22.39
=10	–	Chris Fydler	AUS	22.41
=10	–	Roland Schoeman	RSA	22.41
12	–	Johan Kenkhuis	NED	22.47
=13	–	Stefan Nystrand	SWE	22.49
=13	–	Brett Hawke	AUS	22.49
15	–	Ricardo Busquets	PUR	22.51
16	–	Denis Pimankov	RUS	22.89

Heat #1

Time	19:02

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time
1	–	Gary Hall, Jr.	USA	22.07	0.76	Q
2	–	Anthony Ervin	USA	22.13	0.70	Q
3	–	Mark Foster	GBR	22.32	0.81	Q
4	–	Brendon Dedekind	RSA	22.39	0.69
5	–	Chris Fydler	AUS	22.41	0.75
6	–	Johan Kenkhuis	NED	22.47	0.77
7	–	Stefan Nystrand	SWE	22.49	0.73
8	–	Ricardo Busquets	PUR	22.51	0.64

Heat #2

Time	19:06

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time
1	–	Pieter van den Hoogenband	NED	22.11	0.85	Q
2	–	Aleksandr Popov	RUS	22.17	0.86	Q
3	–	Lorenzo Vismara	ITA	22.30	0.84	Q
4	–	Bartosz Kizierowski	POL	22.35	0.74	Q
5	–	Oleksandr Volynets	UKR	22.36	0.85	Q
6	–	Roland Schoeman	RSA	22.41	0.73
7	–	Brett Hawke	AUS	22.49	0.72
8	–	Denis Pimankov	RUS	22.89	0.78

Final Round

Date	22 September 2000 — 19:52

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time
=1	–	Anthony Ervin	USA	21.98	0.68
=1	–	Gary Hall, Jr.	USA	21.98	0.73
3	–	Pieter van den Hoogenband	NED	22.03	0.82
4	–	Lorenzo Vismara	ITA	22.11	0.82
5	–	Bartosz Kizierowski	POL	22.22	0.75
6	–	Aleksandr Popov	RUS	22.24	0.82
7	–	Mark Foster	GBR	22.41	0.83
8	–	Oleksandr Volynets	UKR	22.51	0.90