The men's 1500 metre freestyle event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 15 and 17 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.[1]
| Men's 1500 metre freestyle at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Beijing National Aquatics Center | ||||||||||||
| Date | August 15, 2008 (heats) August 17, 2008 (final) | ||||||||||||
| Competitors | 37 from 29 nations | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 14:40.84 AF | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Competing at his third Games, Oussama Mellouli made an Olympic milestone to become Tunisia's first ever gold medalist in 48 years. He denied Australia's Grant Hackett a third straight title in the event, touching the wall first in an African record of 14:40.84. Hanging with the leaders through the first two-thirds of the race, Mellouli moved into the lead at the 1,100-metre mark, and held off Hackett's sprinted finish on the final lap. This was also a retribution for Mellouli, who served an 18-month doping ban from FINA for using the banned stimulant Adderall.[2][3][4]
Trying to become the first male swimmer to win three gold medals in the same event, Hackett collected a silver in 14:41.53.[5] Meanwhile, Canada's Ryan Cochrane powered home with a bronze in 14:42.69, finishing ahead of Russia's Yuri Prilukov (14:43.21). U.S. swimmer Larsen Jensen, silver medalist in Athens four years earlier, placed fifth with a time 14:48.16, and was followed in the sixth spot by Great Britain's David Davies in 14:52.11.[3][6] Chinese duo Zhang Lin (14:55.20) and Sun Yang (15:05.12) rounded out the finale.[4]
Earlier in the prelims, Cochrane established a new Olympic record of 14:40.84 in heat three, until Hackett cleared the 14:40 barrier, and lowered the record to 14:38.92 in the final heat of five.[7]
Records edit
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Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record |  Grant Hackett (AUS) |
14:34.56 | Fukuoka, Japan | 29 July 2001 | [8] |
| Olympic record |  Grant Hackett (AUS) |
14:43.40 | Athens, Greece | 21 August 2004 | - |
The following new Olympic records were set during this competition.
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 15 | Heat 3 | Ryan Cochrane |  Canada |
14:40.84 | OR |
| August 15 | Heat 5 | Grant Hackett | Australia |
14:38.92 | OR |
Results edit
Heats edit
Final edit
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
7 | Oussama Mellouli |  Tunisia
|
14:40.84 | AF |
|
4 | Grant Hackett | Australia
|
14:41.53 | |
|
5 | Ryan Cochrane | Canada
|
14:42.69 | |
| 4 | 3 | Yuri Prilukov |  Russia
|
14:43.21 | |
| 5 | 8 | Larsen Jensen |  United States
|
14:48.16 | |
| 6 | 2 | David Davies |  Great Britain
|
14:52.11 | |
| 7 | 6 | Zhang Lin |  China
|
14:55.20 | |
| 8 | 1 | Sun Yang | China
|
15:05.12 |
References edit
- ^ "Olympic Swimming Schedule". USA Today. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
- ^ "Mellouli shatters Hackett's hat-trick bid". South China Morning Post. 17 August 2008. Archived from the original on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
- ^ a b "Mellouli claims 1500m swim gold". BBC Sport. 17 August 2008. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
- ^ a b Lohn, John (16 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Ous Mellouli Claims Olympic Gold for Tunisia in Men's 1500 Free". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 28 June 2013. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- ^ Colman, Mike (17 August 2008). "Grant Hackett gives his all for silver medal in 1500m". The Australian. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
- ^ Goffa, Debbie (17 August 2008). "Larsen Jensen places 5th in 1500m freestyle". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
- ^ Lohn, John (15 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Grant Hackett Leads 1500 Free Qualifying With Olympic Standard". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
- ^ "Hackett shatters world record". BBC News. 29 July 2001. Retrieved 6 August 2008.