Race of the Century
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| sport | swim | ||||||||
| discipline | 200 meters freestyle | ||||||||
| gender | Men | ||||||||
| Attendees | 59 athletes from 55 countries | ||||||||
| Competition location | Olympic Aquatic Center | ||||||||
| Competition phase | August 15th (preliminary, semi-finals) August 16th (final) |
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| Winning time | 1: 44.71 min 
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 Swimming competitions at the 2004 Olympic Games |
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| 50 m freestyle | Women | Men |
| 100 m freestyle | Women | Men |
| 200 m freestyle | for the outside | Men |
| 400 m freestyle | Women | Men |
| 800 m freestyle | Women | |
| 1500 m freestyle | Men | |
| 100 m chest | Women | Men |
| 200 m chest | Women | Men |
| 100 m back | Women | Men |
| 200 m back | Women | Men |
| 100 m butterfly | Women | Men |
| 200 m butterfly | Women | Men |
| 200 m layers | Women | Men |
| 400 m layers | Women | Men |
| 4 × 100 m freestyle | Women | Women |
| 4 × 200 m freestyle | Women | Men |
| 4 × 100 m layers | Women | Men |
When Race of the Century ( Engl. For Race of the Century ), the men's final of the 200 meters is commonly freestyle at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Greece capital Athens called. It was played in the evening program on August 16 in the larger of the two outdoor pools of the Olympic Aquatic Center. The prelims and semi-finals took place the day before.
This race was particularly appealing to spectators, journalists and experts from the composition of its starting field. With Michael Phelps , Pieter van den Hoogenband , Ian Thorpe and Grant Hackett , four swimmers stood at the starting blocks, each of whom had won at least one Olympic gold medal at that time. Together they held seven world records.
The 21-year-old Australian Thorpe, a celebrated triple winner at the previous Summer Olympics in 2000 in his hometown of Sydney , had continuously improved the world record since 1999 and with 01: 44.06 min held the then valid record since the 2001 World Championships in Fukuoka . Michael Phelps was considered an exceptional talent, whose star should finally rise in these games. He was already five-time world champion and had secured his first Olympic victory two days before the final in a world record time over 400 meters medley . The swimwear manufacturer Speedo had also promised him a bonus of one million US dollars should he equalize Mark Spitz 's record of seven gold medals in a single organization of the competitions. The Dutchman van den Hoogenband took up the position of defending champion, because he had won Thorpe's home game four years earlier with the new world record and in 2004 the Olympic record time of 01: 45.35 minutes, which the Australian fans had already planned . Thorpe's compatriot Hackett, who actually specialized more in the longer distances, traveled to Athens as a double Olympic champion and seven-time world champion; He also briefly held the world record in the 200 meter freestyle in 1999.
Race course
Hackett, Phelps, van den Hoogenband and Thorpe all started side by side on lanes 2 to 5. The world record holder wore his characteristic dark blue full body suit, with which he had already attracted attention four years earlier in Sydney. After the start, the four favorites pulled away from the rest of the field within a few seconds, only Rick Say was able to keep up in the first 50 meters. After this first racing quarter , the Dutchman turned first before Thorpe; the mean time was 37 hundredths below the world record level. Hackett fell noticeably behind on the second lane, but the defending champion was able to extend his lead and was now 1.03 seconds below the world record interim time. Thorpe then managed to swim close to the leader, and a duel developed that made it clear that Phelps would no longer be able to intervene in the decision about the gold medal. Van den Hoogenband was also in the lead at the third and last turning point, even if it was now extremely close. His lead on the world record time had also shrunk to 54 hundredths. Immediately after the turn, Thorpe - aided by a powerful kick - pulled past his rival, continuously expanded his lead over the last 50 meters and finally hit with half a body length in a new Olympic record time. Phelps, too, once again concluded with van den Hoogenband, but never reached him.
Result lists
Preliminary results
A total of eight preliminary runs took place, the individual results of which are summarized here. The 16 fastest swimmers who made it through to the two semi-finals are marked with green highlights. The originally eighth place German starter Jens Schreiber was subsequently downgraded; for him the Spaniard Olaf Wildeboer moved up.
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Semifinals
Green highlights indicate the eight athletes with the best time in both semifinals who made it through to the finals.
| space | country | athlete | time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
 Netherlands
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Pieter van den Hoogenband | 01: 46.00 min |
| 2 |
 United States
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Klete cellar | 01: 47.28 min |
| 3 |
 Great Britain
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Simon Burnett | 01: 47.72 min |
| 4th |
 Czech Republic
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Květoslav Svoboda | 01: 49.27 min |
| 5 |
 Japan
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Yoshihiro Okumura | 01: 49.49 min |
| 6th |
 Greece
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Andreas Zisimos | 01: 49.76 min |
| 7th |
 Switzerland
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Dominik Meichtry | 01: 50.02 min |
| 8th |
 Spain
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Olaf Wildeboer | 01: 50.61 min |
| space | country | athlete | time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
 Australia
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Ian Thorpe | 01: 46.65 min |
| 2 |
United States
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Michael Phelps | 01: 47.08 min |
| 3 |
Australia
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Grant Hackett | 01: 47.61 min |
| 4th |
 Italy
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Emiliano Brembilla | 01: 47.93 min |
| 5 |
 Canada
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Rick Say | 01: 48.16 min |
| 6th |
 Trinidad and Tobago
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George Bovell | 01: 49.59 min |
| 7th |
Canada
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Brent Hayden | 01: 50.00 min |
| 8th |
 Russia
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Andrei Kapralov | 01: 51.35 min |
final
| space | train | country | athlete | time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 |
Australia
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Ian Thorpe | 01: 44.27 min 
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| 2 | 4th |
Netherlands
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Pieter van den Hoogenband | 01: 45.23 min |
| 3 | 3 |
United States
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Michael Phelps | 01: 45.32 min 
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| 4th | 6th |
United States
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Klete cellar | 01: 46.13 min |
| 5 | 2 |
Australia
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Grant Hackett | 01: 46.56 min |
| 6th | 8th |
Canada
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Rick Say | 01: 47.55 min |
| 7th | 7th |
Great Britain
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Simon Burnett | 01: 48.02 min |
| 8th | 1 |
Italy
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Emiliano Brembilla | 01: 48.40 min |
Web links
- Full NBC coverage of the race on YouTube . Retrieved August 12, 2012
- "The" Thorpedo "triumphs: Victory in the duel of the giants over 200 meters of crawl! wins the swimming summit ” on August 15, 2004 on news.at ( News ). Retrieved August 12, 2012
- “Thorpe wins the swimming summit” on August 16, 2004 on sueddeutsche.de ( Süddeutsche Zeitung ). Retrieved August 12, 2012
- "Thorpe wins the three-way battle of the giants" on August 16, 2004 on spiegel.de ( Spiegel Online ). Retrieved August 12, 2012
- Jens Weinreich: “Giants in the Basin” on August 17, 2004 on berliner-zeitung.de ( Berliner Zeitung ). Retrieved August 12, 2012