Swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metre freestyle#Final

After a victory in the 400 m freestyle two days earlier, Australia's Ariarne Titmus pulled away from the field to capture the Olympic mid-distance freestyle crown and her second individual gold at these Games. Hanging with the leaders at the 150-metre turn, Titmus overtook Hong Kong's Siobhán Haughey in the final 25 m to establish a new Olympic Record of 1:53.50. Despite leading for the first three laps, Haughey was unable to catch a fast-finishing Titmus near the wall, winning silver in an Asian record of 1:53.92. Haughey's silver also marked Hong Kong's first ever Olympic medal in swimming. Meanwhile, Canada's Penny Oleksiak moved up from one of the outside lanes to take home the bronze in 1:54.70.

China's Yang Junxuan was second at the 150-metre turn though ultimately slipped off the podium to fourth in 1:55.01. The U.S.' defending Olympic champion Katie Ledecky finished fifth with a time of 1:55.21 while the Czech Republic's Barbora Seemanova recorded a national record of 1:55.45 to touch sixth. Italy's world-record holder Federica Pellegrini grabbed the penultimate spot of the top eight in 1:55.91 with Titmus' teammate Madison Wilson (1:56.39) trailing her to round out the field.

The medals for competition were presented by Giovanni Malagò, IOC member, and the gifts were presented by Donald Rukare, FINA Bureau Member.

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

{{World Olympic Record

| world_athlete = {{flagathlete|Federica Pellegrini|ITA}}

| world_mark = 1:52.98

| world_place = Rome, Italy

| world_date = 29 July 2009

| world_ref = {{cite news|title=FINA World Championships, Swimming: Federica Pellegrini Puts on Show for Home Crowd With World Record, U.S. Goes 2-3 With American Record |url=http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/21882.asp |publisher=Swimming World Magazine |date=31 July 2012 |accessdate=9 July 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511114510/http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/21882.asp |archivedate=11 May 2013 }}{{cite news|title=Phelps bounces back with 200m fly world record triumph|url=http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/phelps-bounces-back-with-200m-fly-world-record-triumph-20090730-e1se.html|publisher=Sydney Morning Herald|date=31 July 2012|accessdate=9 July 2013}}

| olympic_athlete = {{flagIOCathlete|Allison Schmitt|USA|2012 Summer}}

| olympic_mark = 1:53.61

| olympic_place = London, United Kingdom

| olympic_date = 31 July 2012

| olympic_ref = {{cite news|title=Olympics swimming: Allison Schmitt wins with Games record|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/18902327|publisher=BBC Sport|date=31 July 2012|accessdate=9 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120829110040/http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/18902327|archive-date=29 August 2012|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}

}}

The following record was established during the competition:

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

The Olympic Qualifying Time for the event is 1:57.28. 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 2:00.80. 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 consisted 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, advance to the semifinals.{{Cite web |url=https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/resOG2020-/pdf/OG2020-/SWM/OG2020-_SWM_C74A_SWMW200MFR------------HEAT--------.pdf |title=Heats results |access-date=30 July 2021 |archive-date=2 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210802223228/https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/resOG2020-/pdf/OG2020-/SWM/OG2020-_SWM_C74A_SWMW200MFR------------HEAT--------.pdf |url-status=dead }}

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_SWMW200MFR------------SFNL--------.pdf |title=Semifinals results |access-date=30 July 2021 |archive-date=2 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210802224141/https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/resOG2020-/pdf/OG2020-/SWM/OG2020-_SWM_C74A_SWMW200MFR------------SFNL--------.pdf |url-status=dead }}

{{Cite web |url=https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/resOG2020-/pdf/OG2020-/SWM/OG2020-_SWM_C73A1_SWMW200MFR------------FNL-000100--.pdf |title=Final results |access-date=30 July 2021 |archive-date=28 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210728020237/https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/resOG2020-/pdf/OG2020-/SWM/OG2020-_SWM_C73A1_SWMW200MFR------------FNL-000100--.pdf |url-status=dead }}

{{Reflist}}

{{Footer Olympic Champions 200 m Freestyle Women}}

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

Women's 00200 metre freestyle

Olympics

Category:Women's events at the 2020 Summer Olympics

Category:2021 in women's swimming