The women's 100 metre breaststroke event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 10–12 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.

After winning a silver medal in Sydney and a bronze in Athens, Australia's Leisel Jones stormed home on the final lap to claim an elusive gold in the event. She established an Olympic record of 1:05.17, just eight-hundredths of a second (0.08) off her global standard. Coming from fifth place in the turn, U.S. swimmer Rebecca Soni earned a silver medal in 1:06.73. Finishing fourth from the Olympic trials, she inherited a place in the event after Jessica Hardy's sudden withdrawal from the Games because of a doping irregularity. Meanwhile, Mirna Jukić posted a time of 1:07.34 to settle for the bronze, holding off Russia's Yuliya Yefimova (1:07.43) to fourth place by almost a tenth of a second (0.10).

Megan Jendrick, former Olympic champion from Sydney in 2000, finished fifth with a time of 1:07.62, edging out Aussie Tarnee White (1:07.63) in a close race by a hundredth of a second (0.01). China's Sun Ye (1:08.08) and Japan's Asami Kitagawa (1:08.43) rounded out the finale.

Earlier in the prelims, Jones opened up her meet by breaking a new Olympic record of 1:05.64, exactly a full second faster than a winning time set by Luo Xuejuan in Athens four years earlier.

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 August 10 Heat 7 Leisel Jones 1:05.64 August 12 Final Leisel Jones 1:05.17

Results

Heats Rank Heat Lane Name Nationality Time Notes1 7 4 Leisel Jones 1:05.64 Q, 2 7 3 Yuliya Efimova 1:06.08 Q, EU3 5 6 Mirna Jukić 1:07.06 Q4 5 4 Rebecca Soni 1:07.44 Q5 7 1 Suzaan van Biljon 1:07.55 Q6 6 1 Sun Ye 1:07.81 Q7 6 4 Tarnee White 1:07.83 Q8 7 6 Joline Höstman 1:07.91 Q9 7 5 Megan Jendrick 1:08.07 Q10 5 7 Jillian Tyler 1:08.13 Q11 6 3 Kate Haywood 1:08.18 Q12 5 2 Chen Huijia 1:08.24 Q13 5 3 Annamay Pierse 1:08.25 Q14 6 2 Kirsty Balfour 1:08.30 Q15 5 1 Asami Kitagawa 1:08.36 Q16 7 8 Elise Matthysen 1:08.37 Q, NR17 6 6 Megumi Taneda 1:08.45 18 7 2 Elena Bogomazova 1:08.63 19 3 2 Sara El Bekri 1:08.66 20 6 5 Sarah Poewe 1:08.69 21 6 7 Hanna Westrin 1:08.80 22 4 4 Roberta Panara 1:08.90 23 4 5 Jung Seul-ki 1:09.26 24 6 8 Yuliya Pidlisna 1:09.72 25 5 5 Anna Khlistunova 1:09.95 26 4 2 Diana Gomes 1:10.02 27 4 3 Inna Kapishina 1:10.15 28 4 1 Dilara Buse Günaydin 1:10.45 29 5 8 Sophie de Ronchi 1:10.46 30 4 6 Angeliki Exarchou 1:10.47 31 3 6 Adriana Marmolejo 1:10.73 NR32 4 7 Nicolette Teo 1:10.76 33 3 3 Smiljana Marinović 1:10.94 34 2 4 Yekaterina Sadovnik 1:11.14 35 4 8 Jolijn van Valkengoed 1:11.26 36 7 7 Sonja Schöber 1:11.36 37 3 4 Liliana Guiscardo 1:11.43 38 2 5 Valeria Silva 1:11.64 NR39 3 8 Tatiane Sakemi 1:11.75 40 3 5 Erla Dogg Haraldsdóttir 1:11.78 41 3 1 Réka Pecz 1:12.17 42 2 6 Danielle Beaubrun 1:12.85 43 3 7 Nađa Higl 1:13.19 44 2 3 Mayumi Raheem 1:15.33 45 2 2 Nibal Yamout 1:16.17 NR46 2 7 Oksana Hatamkhanova 1:20.22 47 1 5 Asmahan Farhat 1:21.68 48 1 4 Anna Salnikova 1:21.70 49 1 3 Mariam Pauline Keita 1:24.26

Semifinals

Semifinal 1 Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes1 5 Rebecca Soni 1:07.07 Q2 4 Yuliya Yefimova 1:07.50 Q3 3 Sun Ye 1:07.72 Q4 6 Joline Höstman 1:08.26 5 7 Chen Huijia 1:08.60 6 2 Jillian Tyler 1:09.00 6 8 Elise Matthysen 1:09.00 8 1 Kirsty Balfour 1:09.23

Semifinal 2 Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes1 4 Leisel Jones 1:05.80 Q2 5 Mirna Jukić 1:07.27 Q3 6 Tarnee White 1:07.48 Q4 2 Megan Jendrick 1:08.07 Q5 8 Asami Kitagawa 1:08.23 Q6 1 Annamay Pierse 1:08.27 7 7 Kate Haywood 1:08.36 8 3 Suzaan van Biljon 1:09.56

Final Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes 4 Leisel Jones 1:05.17 5 Rebecca Soni 1:06.73 3 Mirna Jukić 1:07.34 4 2 Yuliya Yefimova 1:07.43 5 1 Megan Jendrick 1:07.62 6 6 Tarnee White 1:07.63 7 7 Sun Ye 1:08.08 8 8 Asami Kitagawa 1:08.43

References

External links Official Olympic Report