Swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metre butterfly

{{Cleanup section|reason=This section is editorialised. It uses peacock terms which are not in-keeping with a neutral, encyclopedic tone.|date=April 2025}}China's Zhang Yufei commanded the race from the beginning to continue a strong run of Chinese dominance in the event, delivering the nation its third title in four Olympics. Rebounding from a narrow loss in the 100 m butterfly earlier in the week, Zhang similarly roared to an early lead, touching more than a second and a half ahead of the U.S.' Hali Flickinger at the halfway mark. While she began to tire in the latter half of the race, Zhang clocked a new Olympic record of 2:03.86 - the fastest performance in textile and quickest time in 12 years - to best the field and win gold.

While the American duo of Flickinger and Regan Smith battled for the silver, Smith fired off the fastest closing split in the field to edge her compatriot and record a personal best time of 2:05.30. Meanwhile Flickinger, the bronze medallist in the 400 m individual medley, could not hold off her teammate at the finish and settled for her second bronze at these Games in 2:05.65. Hungary's reigning World champion Boglárka Kapás (2:06.53) was 3-hundredths of a second off her national record to take fourth. More than a second back, ROC's Svetlana Chimrova (2:07.70) claimed fifth while Zhang's teammate Yu Liyan (2:07.85) took sixth. Great Britain's 2018 Commonwealth Games champion Alys Thomas (2:07.90) could not replicate her winning performance from those championships, taking the penultimate spot in the final. Australia's Brianna Throssell repeated her eighth-place finish from Rio five years earlier, touching in 2:09.48 - almost three seconds behind her personal best time.

The medals for the competition were presented by Costa Rica's Laura Chinchilla, IOC Member, and the gifts were presented by Kazakhstan's Andrey Kryukov, FINA Bureau Member.

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.

{{World Olympic Record

| world_athlete = {{flagathlete|Liu Zige |CHN}}

| world_mark = 2:01.81

| world_place = Jinan, China

| world_date = 21 October 2009

| world_ref = {{cite news|title=Chinese National Games: Liu Zige Shocks World With Astounding 200 Fly World Record|url=http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/22394.asp|publisher=Swimming World Magazine |date=21 October 2009|accessdate=10 July 2013|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120404192453/http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/22394.asp|archivedate=4 April 2012}}{{cite news|title=Chinese Olympic champion Liu Zige breaks women's 200m butterfly world record|url=http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90779/90867/6790102.html|publisher=People's Daily |date=21 October 2009|accessdate=10 July 2013}}

| olympic_athlete = {{flagIOCathlete|Jiao Liuyang |CHN|2012 Summer}}

| olympic_mark = 2:04.06

| olympic_place = London, United Kingdom

| olympic_date = 1 August 2012

| olympic_ref = {{cite news|title=2012 London Olympics: China's Jiao Liuyang Goes Silver-to-Gold With Olympic Record in Women's 200 Fly; Kathleen Hersey, Cammile Adams Miss Podium|url=http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/World/31523.asp|publisher=Swimming World Magazine |date=1 August 2012|accessdate=9 July 2013|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105155103/http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/World/31523.asp|archivedate=5 November 2013}}

}}

The following record was established during the competition:

{{main|Swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Qualification}}

The Olympic Qualifying Time for the event is 2:08.43. Up to two swimmers per National Olympic Committee (NOC) can automatically qualify by swimming that time at an approved qualification event. The Olympic Selection Time is 2:12.28. Up to one swimmer per NOC meeting that time is eligible for selection, allocated by world ranking until the maximum quota for all swimming events is reached. NOCs without a female swimmer qualified in any event can also use their universality place.{{cite news|title=Tokyo 2020 – FINA Swimming Qualification System|url= https://www.fina.org/sites/default/files/general/final_-_2018-03-19_-_tokyo_2020_-_qualification_system_-_swimming_-_eng.pdf|format=pdf|work=Tokyo 2020 |publisher=FINA |accessdate=29 January 2020}}

The competition consists of three rounds: heats, semifinals, and a final. The swimmers with the best 16 times in the heats advance to the semifinals. The swimmers with the best 8 times in the semifinals advance to the final. Swim-offs are used as necessary to break ties for advancement to the next round.{{cite web|title=FINA Swimming Rulebook, 2017–21|url=https://www.fina.org/sites/default/files/2017_2021_swimming_12092017_ok_0.pdf|website=FINA|accessdate=29 January 2020}}

All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)

The swimmers with the top 16 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the semifinals.{{Cite web |url=https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/resOG2020-/pdf/OG2020-/SWM/OG2020-_SWM_C74A_SWMW200MBF------------HEAT--------.pdf |title=Heats results |access-date=27 July 2021 |archive-date=23 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210823112122/https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/resOG2020-/pdf/OG2020-/SWM/OG2020-_SWM_C74A_SWMW200MBF------------HEAT--------.pdf |url-status=dead }}

As Katinka Hosszú withdrew before the event, all sixteen remaining swimmers were guaranteed to qualify for the semi-finals.

Although FINA rules would have allowed the Heats to be scratched and two straight semi-finals held, the decision was made to keep the original schedule.

The swimmers with the best 8 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the final.{{Cite web |url=https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/resOG2020-/pdf/OG2020-/SWM/OG2020-_SWM_C74A_SWMW200MBF------------SFNL--------.pdf |title=Semifinals results |access-date=28 July 2021 |archive-date=23 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210823112112/https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/resOG2020-/pdf/OG2020-/SWM/OG2020-_SWM_C74A_SWMW200MBF------------SFNL--------.pdf |url-status=dead }}

{{Cite web |url=https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/resOG2020-/pdf/OG2020-/SWM/OG2020-_SWM_C73A1_SWMW200MBF------------FNL-000100--.pdf |title=Final results |access-date=1 August 2021 |archive-date=29 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210729023955/https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/resOG2020-/pdf/OG2020-/SWM/OG2020-_SWM_C73A1_SWMW200MBF------------FNL-000100--.pdf |url-status=dead }}

{{Reflist}}

{{Footer Olympic Champions 200 m Butterfly Women}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics - Women's 200 metre butterfly}}

Women's 00200 metre butterfly

Olympics

Category:Women's events at the 2020 Summer Olympics

Category:2021 in women's swimming