| 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) | – | – | |||
| Craig Hutchison |  CAN | – (DQ h6) | – | – | ||||
| Mohamed Abdul Hamid |  SUD | – (DQ h1) | – | – | ||||
| Romain Barnier |  FRA | – (DNS h9) | – | – | ||||
| Lars Frölander | SWE | – (DNS h9) | – | – | ||||
| Francisco Sánchez |  VEN | – (DNS h5) | – | – |
| Date | 21 September 2000 |
|---|---|
| Format | Fastest 16 advanced to the semi-finals. |
| Time | 10:02 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | Reaction Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Wael Saeed | QAT | 25.43 | 0.78 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Chitra Bahadur Gurung | NEP | 27.02 | 0.87 | ||
| 3 | 4 | Anlloyd Samuel | PLW | 27.24 | 0.71 | ||
| 4 | 3 | Stephenson Wallace | VIN | 27.84 | 0.87 | ||
| 5 | 6 | Hassan Mubah | MDV | 28.86 | 0.85 | ||
| 6 | 2 | Bakary Sereme | MLI | 29.69 | 0.86 | ||
| 7 | 8 | Samson Ndayishimiye | RWA | 38.76 | 0.81 | ||
| 7 | Mohamed Abdul Hamid | SUD | – | – | 3 |
| Time | 10:04 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | Reaction Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Jamie Peterkin | LCA | 25.33 | 0.89 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Davy Bisslik | ARU | 25.57 | 0.74 | ||
| 3 | 5 | Mohammed Abdul Ilah | IRQ | 25.84 | 0.66 | ||
| 4 | 3 | Ilidio Matusse | MOZ | 26.28 | 0.77 | ||
| 5 | 8 | Hem Kiry | CAM | 26.41 | 0.74 | ||
| 6 | 1 | Kenneth Maronie | DMA | 26.65 | 0.82 | ||
| 7 | 7 | Khalid Al-Kulaibi | OMA | 26.96 | 0.76 | ||
| 8 | 2 | Sikhounxay Ounkhamphanyavong | LAO | 27.03 | 0.82 |
| Time | 10:06 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | Reaction Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Esteban Blanco | CRC | 23.72 | 0.83 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Howard Hinds | AHO | 24.07 | 0.74 | ||
| 3 | 8 | Zurab Beridze | GEO | 24.28 | 0.81 | ||
| 4 | 1 | Ayoub Al-Mas | UAE | 24.91 | 0.82 | ||
| 5 | 3 | Omar Hughes | GRN | 25.05 | 0.77 | ||
| 6 | 2 | Dimitri Margaryan | ARM | 25.29 | 0.76 | ||
| 7 | 7 | Emin Quliyev | AZE | 25.36 | 0.76 | ||
| 8 | 6 | João Aguiar | ANG | 25.70 | 0.78 |
| Time | 10:08 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | Reaction Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Sergey Borisenko | KAZ | 23.46 | 0.86 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Sergey Ashikhmin | KGZ | 23.53 | 0.85 | ||
| 3 | 8 | Serghei Stolearenco | MDA | 23.84 | 0.75 | ||
| 4 | 3 | Paul Kutscher | URU | 23.90 | 0.73 | ||
| =5 | 6 | Leslie Kwok | SGP | 24.00 | 0.73 | ||
| =5 | 7 | Luis López | PER | 24.00 | 0.73 | ||
| 7 | 2 | Huang Chih-Yung | TPE | 24.01 | 0.68 | ||
| 8 | 5 | Harbeth Fu | HKG | 24.20 | 0.80 |
| Time | 10:10 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | Reaction Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Ravil Nachayev | UZB | 23.12 | 0.78 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Allan Murray | BAH | 23.34 | 0.70 | ||
| 3 | 7 | Richard Bera | INA | 23.56 | 0.68 | ||
| 4 | 8 | Nebojša Bikić | SCG | 23.57 | 0.84 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Camilo Becerra | COL | 23.63 | 0.72 | ||
| 6 | 6 | Tamer Zinhom | EGY | 23.77 | 0.82 | ||
| 7 | 3 | Rodrigo Olivares | CHI | 24.50 | 0.81 | ||
| 5 | Francisco Sánchez | VEN | – | – |
| Time | 10:12 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | Reaction Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Oleksandr Volynets | UKR | 22.52 | 0.86 | ||
| 2 | 6 | Kim Min-Seok | KOR | 22.82 | 0.85 | ||
| 3 | 8 | Peter Mankoč | SLO | 23.02 | 0.80 | ||
| 4 | 7 | Stavros Michailidis | CYP | 23.05 | 0.71 | ||
| 5 | 5 | Yoav Bruck | ISR | 23.21 | 0.79 | ||
| 6 | 1 | Rolandas Gimbutis | LTU | 23.36 | 0.88 | ||
| 7 | 4 | Thierry Wouters | BEL | 23.44 | 0.79 | ||
| 3 | Craig Hutchison | CAN | – | – | 4 |
| Time | 10:14 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | Reaction Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Jiang Chengji | CHN | 22.82 | 0.73 | ||
| 2 | 6 | Attila Zubor | HUN | 23.03 | 0.79 | ||
| 3 | 1 | Stephan Kunzelmann | GER | 23.08 | 0.80 | ||
| 4 | 2 | Christoph Bühler | SUI | 23.15 | 0.80 | ||
| 5 | 7 | Marijan Kanjer | CRO | 23.16 | 0.74 | ||
| 6 | 5 | Marcos Hernández | CUB | 23.20 | 0.69 | ||
| 7 | 3 | Dzmitry Kalinovski | BLR | 23.21 | 0.75 | ||
| 8 | 8 | Pedro Silva | POR | 23.27 | 0.73 |
| Time | 10:16 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | Reaction Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Anthony Ervin | USA | 22.24 | 0.71 | ||
| 2 | 6 | Ricardo Busquets | PUR | 22.42 | 0.62 | ||
| 3 | 7 | Stefan Nystrand | SWE | 22.53 | 0.73 | ||
| 4 | 5 | Lorenzo Vismara | ITA | 22.62 | 0.82 | ||
| 5 | 3 | Mark Foster | GBR | 22.65 | 0.82 | ||
| 6 | 2 | José Meolans | ARG | 22.89 | 0.80 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Salim Iles | ALG | 22.95 | 0.74 | ||
| 8 | 8 | Eduardo Lorente | ESP | 22.96 | 0.76 |
| Time | 10:19 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | Reaction Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Bartosz Kizierowski | POL | 22.05 | 0.72 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Gary Hall, Jr. | USA | 22.14 | 0.71 | ||
| 3 | 5 | Brendon Dedekind | RSA | 22.46 | 0.67 | ||
| 4 | 2 | Johan Kenkhuis | NED | 22.61 | 0.78 | ||
| 5 | 8 | Denis Pimankov | RUS | 22.74 | 0.79 | ||
| 6 | 3 | Xuxa Scherer | BRA | 22.88 | 0.78 | ||
| 7 | Romain Barnier | FRA | – | – | |||
| 1 | Lars Frölander | SWE | – | – |
| Time | 10:22 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | Reaction Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Aleksandr Popov | RUS | 22.15 | 0.86 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Pieter van den Hoogenband | NED | 22.32 | 0.86 | ||
| 3 | 6 | Brett Hawke | AUS | 22.45 | 0.72 | ||
| 4 | 3 | Roland Schoeman | RSA | 22.53 | 0.69 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Chris Fydler | AUS | 22.80 | 0.74 | ||
| 6 | 8 | Julio Santos | ECU | 22.83 | 0.69 | ||
| 7 | 7 | Edvaldo Valério | BRA | 22.96 | 0.72 | ||
| 8 | 1 | Indrek Sei | EST | 23.11 | 0.73 |
| Date | 21 September 2000 |
|---|---|
| Format | Fastest eight advanced to the final. |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Gary Hall, Jr. | USA | 22.07 | ||
| 2 | 3 | Pieter van den Hoogenband | NED | 22.11 | ||
| 3 | 5 | Anthony Ervin | USA | 22.13 | ||
| 4 | 5 | Aleksandr Popov | RUS | 22.17 | ||
| 5 | 1 | Lorenzo Vismara | ITA | 22.30 | ||
| 6 | 1 | Mark Foster | GBR | 22.32 | ||
| 7 | 4 | Bartosz Kizierowski | POL | 22.35 | ||
| 8 | 2 | Oleksandr Volynets | UKR | 22.36 | ||
| 9 | 6 | Brendon Dedekind | RSA | 22.39 | ||
| =10 | 8 | Chris Fydler | AUS | 22.41 | ||
| =10 | 7 | Roland Schoeman | RSA | 22.41 | ||
| 12 | 7 | Johan Kenkhuis | NED | 22.47 | ||
| =13 | 2 | Stefan Nystrand | SWE | 22.49 | ||
| =13 | 6 | Brett Hawke | AUS | 22.49 | ||
| 15 | 3 | Ricardo Busquets | PUR | 22.51 | ||
| 16 | 8 | Denis Pimankov | RUS | 22.89 |
| Time | 19:02 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | Reaction Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Gary Hall, Jr. | USA | 22.07 | 0.76 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Anthony Ervin | USA | 22.13 | 0.70 | ||
| 3 | 1 | Mark Foster | GBR | 22.32 | 0.81 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Brendon Dedekind | RSA | 22.39 | 0.69 | ||
| 5 | 8 | Chris Fydler | AUS | 22.41 | 0.75 | ||
| 6 | 7 | Johan Kenkhuis | NED | 22.47 | 0.77 | ||
| 7 | 2 | Stefan Nystrand | SWE | 22.49 | 0.73 | ||
| 8 | 3 | Ricardo Busquets | PUR | 22.51 | 0.64 |
| Time | 19:06 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | Reaction Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Pieter van den Hoogenband | NED | 22.11 | 0.85 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Aleksandr Popov | RUS | 22.17 | 0.86 | ||
| 3 | 1 | Lorenzo Vismara | ITA | 22.30 | 0.84 | ||
| 4 | 4 | Bartosz Kizierowski | POL | 22.35 | 0.74 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Oleksandr Volynets | UKR | 22.36 | 0.85 | ||
| 6 | 7 | Roland Schoeman | RSA | 22.41 | 0.73 | ||
| 7 | 6 | Brett Hawke | AUS | 22.49 | 0.72 | ||
| 8 | 8 | Denis Pimankov | RUS | 22.89 | 0.78 |
| Date | 22 September 2000 — 19:52 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | Reaction Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | 3 | Anthony Ervin | USA | 21.98 | 0.68 | ||
| =1 | 4 | Gary Hall, Jr. | USA | 21.98 | 0.73 | ||
| 3 | 5 | Pieter van den Hoogenband | NED | 22.03 | 0.82 | ||
| 4 | 2 | Lorenzo Vismara | ITA | 22.11 | 0.82 | ||
| 5 | 1 | Bartosz Kizierowski | POL | 22.22 | 0.75 | ||
| 6 | 6 | Aleksandr Popov | RUS | 22.24 | 0.82 | ||
| 7 | 7 | Mark Foster | GBR | 22.41 | 0.83 | ||
| 8 | 8 | Oleksandr Volynets | UKR | 22.51 | 0.90 |
