Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre freestyle
The men's 100 metre freestyle event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 12–14 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.
Alain Bernard stormed home on the final lap to claim France's first ever gold medal in the event with a time of 47.21. Australia's world record holder Eamon Sullivan enjoyed a great start in the first 50 metres, but ended up with a silver in 47.32, just 0.11 of a second behind Bernard. U.S. swimmer Jason Lezak and Brazil's César Cielo tied for the bronze medal in a matching time of 47.67.
Two-time defending champion Pieter van den Hoogenband finished the race in fifth place at 47.75. Although he missed an opportunity to attain a third straight triumph in the same event, Van den Hoogenband became the first ever swimmer to reach the final at his fourth Olympics. Four months later, he announced his retirement from the sport, ending an Olympic career with a total of seven medals, including three golds.
Van den Hoogenband was followed in sixth by South Africa's Lyndon Ferns, and in seventh by Sullivan's teammate Matt Targett. After missing out the semifinals in Athens four years earlier, Sweden's Stefan Nystrand rounded out the finale to eighth place in 48.33.
Earlier in the semifinals, Bernard and Sullivan exchanged world-record performances to set up a battle race for the final. Swimming in the first heat, Bernard delivered a time of 47.20 to erase a 0.04-second standard set by Sullivan during his lead-off leg in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay. A few minutes later, Sullivan had taken back the record in the second semifinal at 47.05.
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
| 13 August | Semifinal 1 | Alain Bernard | 47.20 | , | |
| 13 August | Semifinal 2 | Eamon Sullivan | 47.05 | , |
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. Swim-offs were used as necessary to break ties for advancement to the next round.Results
Heats
Semifinals
Bernard held the world record only briefly, setting it in the first semifinal heat before Sullivan broke it in the second heat.| Rank | Heat | Lane | Name | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | 4 | Eamon Sullivan | 47.05 | , | |
| 2 | 1 | 5 | Alain Bernard | 47.20 | , | |
| 3 | 2 | 3 | Pieter van den Hoogenband | 47.68 | , NR | |
| 4 | 2 | 7 | Matt Targett | 47.88 | ||
| 5 | 1 | 4 | Stefan Nystrand | 47.91 | ||
| 6 | 1 | 2 | Jason Lezak | 47.98 | ||
| 7 | 1 | 6 | Lyndon Ferns | 48.00 | ||
| 8 | 1 | 3 | César Cielo | 48.07 | ||
| 9 | 2 | 2 | Filippo Magnini | 48.11 | ||
| 10 | 2 | 6 | Garrett Weber-Gale | 48.12 | ||
| 11 | 2 | 5 | Brent Hayden | 48.20 | ||
| 12 | 1 | 8 | Christian Galenda | 48.47 | ||
| 13 | 1 | 1 | Jonas Persson | 48.59 | ||
| 14 | 2 | 1 | Andrey Grechin | 48.71 | ||
| 15 | 1 | 7 | Fabien Gilot | 49.00 | ||
| 16 | 2 | 8 | Dominik Meichtry | 49.58 |