The 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing saw more World records broken than any Olympic Games before. Numerous new Olympic records were further set.
Archery
Event Date Record Round Name Nationality Score Record Women's team 9 August 216 arrow ranking round Ranking Round Park Sung-hyunYun Ok-HeeJoo Hyun-Jung 2004 OR 10 August 24 arrow match First Round Natalia ValeevaPia Carmen Maria LionettiElena Tonetta 215 OR 10 August 24 arrow match Quarterfinals Bérengère SchuhSophie DodemontVirginie Arnold 218 OR 10 August 24 arrow match Quarterfinals Park Sung-hyunYun Ok-HeeJoo Hyun-Jung 231 WR, OR Women's individual 14 August 12 arrow match Round of 16 Park Sung-hyun 115 ORMen's team 11 August 24 arrow match First Round Rafał DobrowolskiPiotr PiątekJacek Proć 223 OR 11 August 24 arrow match Quarterfinal Im Dong-HyunLee Chang-HwanPark Kyung-Mo 224 OR 11 August 24 arrow match Final Im Dong-HyunLee Chang-HwanPark Kyung-Mo 227 ORMen's individual 13 August 12 arrow match Round of 64 Jacek Proc 116 OR 13 August 12 arrow match Round of 32 Lee Chang-hwan 117 OR
Track & Field
Men's records EventRecordNameNationDateRecordMen's 100 metres9.69 sUsain Bolt16 August 2008 WR, ORMen's 200 metres19.30 sUsain Bolt20 August 2008 WR, ORMen's 5000 metres12:57.82 minKenenisa Bekele23 August 2008 ORMen's 10000 metres27:01.17 minKenenisa Bekele17 August 2008 ORMen's 4x400 metre relay2:55.39 minLaShawn MerrittAngelo TaylorDavid NevilleJeremy Wariner23 August 2008 ORMen's marathon2:06:32 hrSamuel Kamau Wanjiru24 August 2008 ORMen's 50 kilometre walk3:37:09Alex Schwazer22 August 2008 ORMen's pole vault5.96 mSteven Hooker 22 August 2008 ORMen's javelin throw90.57 mAndreas Thorkildsen23 August 2008 OR
Women's records EventRecordNameNationDateRecordWomen's 400 metre hurdles52.64 sMelaine Walker20 August 2008 ORWomen's 3,000 metre steeplechase8:58.81 minGulnara Galkina-Samitova17 August 2008 WR, ORWomen's 10,000 metres29:54.66Tirunesh Dibaba20 August 2008 ORWomen's 20km walk1:26:31 hrOlga Kaniskina20 August 2008 ORWomen's triple jump15.39 mFrançoise Mbango Etone 17 August 2008 ORWomen's pole vault5.05 mYelena Isinbayeva18 August 2008 WR, ORWomen's hammer throw76.34 m Aksana Miankova20 August 2008 OR
Cycling
EventTimeNameNationDateRecordMen's Sprint9.815 Chris Hoy2008-08-17 ORMen's Individual pursuit 4:15.031 Bradley Wiggins2008-08-15 ORMen's Team pursuit3:53.312 Bradley WigginsPaul ManningGeraint ThomasEd Clancy2008-08-18 ORWomen's Sprint10.963 Victoria Pendleton2008-08-17 OR
Shooting
Men's records EventScoreNameNationDateRecord25 m rapid fire pistolQual.583Keith Sanderson2008-08-16 ORFinal780.2Oleksandr Petriv2008-08-16 ORTrapFinal146David Kostelecký2008-08-10 ORDouble trapQual.145Walton Eller2008-08-12 ORFinal190Walton Eller2008-08-12 ORSkeetQual.121Vincent Hancock2008-08-16 ORFinal145Vincent HancockTore Brovold2008-08-16 OR
Women's records EventScoreNameNationDateRecord50 m rifle three positionsQual.589Du Li2008-08-14 ORFinal690.3Du Li2008-08-14 OR10 m air rifleQual.400Kateřina Emmons2008-08-09 WR, ORFinal503.5Kateřina Emmons2008-08-09 OR25 m pistolQual.590Otryadyn Gündegmaa2008-08-13 ORFinal793.4Chen Ying2008-08-13 OR10 m air pistolQual.391Natalia Paderina2008-08-10 ORFinal492.3Guo Wenjun2008-08-10 ORTrapFinal91Satu Mäkelä-Nummela2008-08-11 ORSkeetQual.72Chiara Cainero2008-08-14 ORFinal93Chiara CaineroKim RhodeChristine Brinker2008-08-14 OR This equalled Renata Mauer's Olympic record. This equalled Tao Luna's Olympic record.
Swimming
Due to the use of the LZR Racer, a specialised swimming suit developed by NASA and the Australian Institute of Sport, many records were broken. New world records were set 25 times (affecting 23 distinct world records) and new Olympic records were set 65 times and one other was equalled (affecting 30 distinct Olympic records). Only Ian Thorpe's 3:40.59 in the 400 metres freestyle and Inge de Bruijn's 56.61 in the 100 metres butterfly, both set in Sydney, remained Olympic records. Michael Phelps of the United States also broke the record for the most gold medals ever won by an Olympian with a total of 14; 8 of which were won during the 2008 Summer Olympics - this was also a world record.
Men Event Date Round Name Nationality Time Record Day Men's 100 m breaststroke August 9 Heat 7 Alexander Dale Oen 59.41 OR 1 Men's 400 m individual medley August 9 Heat 4 Michael Phelps 4:07.82 OR 1 Men's 100 m backstroke August 10 Heat 4 Matt Grevers 53.41 OR 2 Men's 100 m breaststroke August 10 Semifinal 2 Alexander Dale Oen 59.16 OR 2 Men's 400 m individual medley August 10 Final Michael Phelps 4:03.84 WR 2 Men's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay August 10 Heat 1 Nathan Adrian (48.82)Cullen Jones (47.61)Ben Wildman-Tobriner (48.03)Matt Grevers (47.77) 3:12.23 WR 2 Men's 100 m freestyle August 10 Heat 1 leadoff* Amaury Leveaux 47.76 OR 2 Men's 100 m backstroke August 11 Semifinal 1 Arkady Vyatchanin 53.06 OR 3 Men's 100 m backstroke August 11 Semifinal 2 Hayden Stoeckel 52.97 OR 3 Men's 100 m breaststroke August 11 Final Kosuke Kitajima 58.91 WR 3 Men's 200 m butterfly August 11 Heat 6 Michael Phelps 1:53.70 OR 3 Men's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay August 11 Final Michael Phelps (47.51)Garrett Weber-Gale (47.02)Cullen Jones (47.65)Jason Lezak (46.06) 3:08.24 WR 3 Men's 100 m freestyle August 11 Final leadoff* Eamon Sullivan 47.24 WR 3 Men's 200 m freestyle August 12 Final Michael Phelps 1:42.96 WR 4 Men's 100 m backstroke August 12 Final Aaron Peirsol 52.54 WR 4 Men's 200 m breaststroke August 12 Heat 5 Paolo Bossini 2:08.98 OR 4 Men's 200 m breaststroke August 12 Heat 7 Dániel Gyurta 2:08.68 OR 4 Men's 200 m butterfly August 12 Semifinal 2 Michael Phelps 1:53.70 OR 4 Men's 4 × 200 m freestyle relay August 12 Heat 2 David Walters (1:46.57)Ricky Berens (1:45.47)Erik Vendt (1:47.11)Klete Keller (1:45.51) 7:04.66 OR 4 Men's 100 m freestyle August 13 Semifinal 1 Alain Bernard 47.20 WR 5 Men's 100 m freestyle August 13 Semifinal 2 Eamon Sullivan 47.05 WR 5 Men's 200 m breaststroke August 13 Semifinal 1 Kosuke Kitajima 2:08.61 OR 5 Men's 200 m butterfly August 13 Final Michael Phelps 1:52.03 WR 5 Men's 4 × 200 m freestyle relay August 13 Final Michael Phelps (1:43.31)Ryan Lochte (1:44.28)Ricky Berens (1:46.29)Peter Vanderkaay (1:44.68) 6:58.56 WR 5 Men's 50 m freestyle August 14 Heat 11 César Cielo 21.47 OR 6 Men's 50 m freestyle August 14 Heat 12 Amaury Leveaux 21.46 OR 6 Men's 100 m butterfly August 14 Heat 7 Jason Dunford 51.14 OR 6 Men's 100 m butterfly August 14 Heat 9 Milorad Čavić 50.76 OR 6 Men's 50 m freestyle August 15 Semifinal 1 César Cielo 21.34 OR 7 Men's 1500 m freestyle August 15 Heat 3 Ryan Cochrane 14:40.84 OR 7 Men's 1500 m freestyle August 15 Heat 5 Grant Hackett 14:38.92 OR 7 Men's 200 m backstroke August 15 Final Ryan Lochte 1:53.94 WR 7 Men's 200 m individual medley August 15 Final Michael Phelps 1:54.23 WR 7 Men's 50 m freestyle August 16 Final César Cielo 21.30 OR 8 Men's 100 m butterfly August 16 Final Michael Phelps 50.58 OR 8 Men's 4 × 100 m medley relay August 17 Final Aaron Peirsol (53.16)Brendan Hansen (59.27) Michael Phelps (50.15)Jason Lezak (46.76) 3:29.34 WR 9 * World record split from the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay
Note: At the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay final, anchor Jason Lezak swam the fastest 100 m split (46.06); however, this is not considered an official FINA record, as he did not swim the first leg.
Women Event Date Round Name Nationality Time Record Day Women's 400 m freestyle August 10 Heat 5 Katie Hoff 4:03.71 OR 2 Women's 400 m freestyle August 10 Heat 6 Federica Pellegrini 4:02.19 OR 2 Women's 100 m backstroke August 10 Heat 5 Anastasia Zuyeva 59.61 OR 2 Women's 100 m backstroke August 10 Heat 6 Reiko Nakamura 59.36 OR 2 Women's 100 m backstroke August 10 Heat 7 Kirsty Coventry 59.00 OR 2 Women's 100 m breaststroke August 10 Heat 7 Leisel Jones 1:05.64 OR 2 Women's 400 m individual medley August 10 Final Stephanie Rice 4:29.45 WR 2 Women's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay August 10 Final Inge Dekker (54.37) Ranomi Kromowidjojo (53.39)Femke Heemskerk (53.42)Marleen Veldhuis (52.58) 3:33.76 OR 2 Women's 100 m freestyle August 10 Final leadoff* Britta Steffen 53.38 OR 2 Women's 200 m freestyle August 11 Heat 4 Pang Jiaying 1:57.37 OR 3 Women's 200 m freestyle August 11 Heat 5 Sara Isaković 1:55.86 OR 3 Women's 200 m freestyle August 11 Heat 6 Federica Pellegrini 1:55.45 WR 3 Women's 100 m backstroke August 11 Semifinal 2 Kirsty Coventry 58.77 WR 3 Women's 100 m breaststroke August 12 Final Leisel Jones 1:05.17 OR 4 Women's 200 m individual medley August 12 Semifinal 1 Kirsty Coventry 2:09.53 OR 4 Women's 200 m freestyle August 13 Final Federica Pellegrini 1:54.82 WR 5 Women's 200 m breaststroke August 13 Heat 5 Rebecca Soni 2:22.17 OR 5 Women's 200 m individual medley August 13 Final Stephanie Rice 2:08.45 OR 5 Women's 4 × 200 m freestyle relay August 13 Heat 1 Alena Popchanka (1:58.27)Céline Couderc (1:58.92)Camille Muffat (1:57.32)Coralie Balmy (1:55.86) 7:50.37 OR 5 Women's 800 m freestyle August 14 Heat 4 Rebecca Adlington 8:18.06 OR 6 Women's 200 m backstroke August 14 Heat 4 Kirsty Coventry 2:06.76 OR 6 Women's 200 m butterfly August 14 Final Liu Zige 2:04.18 WR 6 Women's 4 × 200 m freestyle relay August 14 Final Stephanie Rice (1:56.60)Bronte Barratt (1:56.58)Kylie Palmer (1:55.22)Linda Mackenzie (1:55.91) 7:44.31 WR 6 Women's 100 m freestyle August 15 Final Britta Steffen 53.12 OR 7 Women's 200 m breaststroke August 15 Final Rebecca Soni 2:20.22 WR 7 Women's 800 m freestyle August 16 Final Rebecca Adlington 8:14.10 OR 8 Women's 200 m backstroke August 16 Final Kirsty Coventry 2:05.24 WR 8 Women's 50 m freestyle August 17 Final Britta Steffen 24.06 OR 9 Women's 4 × 100 m medley relay August 17 Final Emily Seebohm (59.33) Leisel Jones (1:04.58)Jessicah Schipper (56.25)Lisbeth Trickett (52.53) 3:52.69 WR 9
Weightlifting
Men's records EventWeightNameNationDateRecord85 kgSnatch185.0 kg Andrei Rybakou2008-08-15 ORTotal394.0 kg Andrei Rybakou2008-08-15 WR, OR105 kgSnatch200.0 kg Andrei Aramnau2008-08-18 ORClean and Jerk236.0 kg Andrei Aramnau2008-08-18 ORTotal436.0 kg Andrei Aramnau2008-08-18 OR
Women's records EventWeightNameNationDateRecord48 kgClean and Jerk117.0 kg Chen Xiexia2008-08-09 ORTotal212.0 kg Chen Xiexia2008-08-09 OR53 kgClean and Jerk126.0 kg Prapawadee Jaroenrattanatarakoon2008-08-10 OR58 kgClean and Jerk138.0 kg Chen Yanqing2008-08-11 ORTotal244.0 kg Chen Yanqing2008-08-11 OR69 kgSnatch128.0 kg Liu Chunhong2008-08-13 ORClean and Jerk158.0 kg Liu Chunhong2008-08-13 ORTotal286.0 kg Liu Chunhong2008-08-13 WR, OR75 kgSnatch128.0 kg Cao Lei2008-08-15 ORClean and Jerk154.0 kg Cao Lei2008-08-15 ORTotal282.0 kg Cao Lei2008-08-15 OR+75 kgSnatch140.0 kg Jang Mi-Ran2008-08-16 WR, ORClean and Jerk186.0 kg Jang Mi-Ran2008-08-16 WR, ORTotal 326.0 kg Jang Mi-Ran2008-08-16 WR, OR
References