The women's 50 metre freestyle event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place on 12–13 August at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium.
Summary Pernille Blume defeated the field of experienced sprinters to give Denmark its first Olympic swimming title in 68 years. Leading the program's shortest race from prelims into the semifinals, she splashed her way to a gold-medal triumph in 24.07, but fell short of her attempt to overhaul Ranomi Kromowidjojo's Olympic record by a small fraction of a second. U.S. sprinter Simone Manuel, newly crowned Olympic champion of the 100 m freestyle, settled for the silver in 24.09, stopping 0.02 seconds behind Blume. Meanwhile, London 2012 runner-up Aliaksandra Herasimenia of Belarus secured the top three spot with a 24.11 for the bronze.
Great Britain's Francesca Halsall narrowly missed out of the medals by 0.02 of a second, finishing with a fourth-place time in 24.13. Unable to bounce back from their out-of-medal feat in the 100 m freestyle, sisters and pre-race favorites Cate (24.15) and Bronte Campbell (24.42) slipped to fifth and seventh, respectively, while defending champion Kromowidjojo of the Netherlands split the Australian duo to take the sixth spot in 24.19. Brazil's hometown favorite Etiene Medeiros wrapped up the top eight with a 24.69.
Notable swimmers failed to reach the top eight final, including Blume's fellow sprinter Jeanette Ottesen, London 2012 finalist Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace of the Bahamas, and Swedish tandem of three-time medalist Sarah Sjöström and Therese Alshammar, who built a historic milestone as the first ever female in the pool to compete at her sixth Olympics.
Records Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
Competition format
The competition consisted of three rounds: heats, semifinals, and a final. The swimmers with the best 16 times in the heats advanced to the semifinals. The swimmers with the best 8 times in the semifinals advanced to the final. Swim-offs were used as necessary to break ties for advancement to the next round.
Results Heats Rank Heat Lane Name Nationality Time Notes 1 12 6 Pernille Blume 24.23 Q 2 11 5 Fran Halsall 24.26 Q 3 10 6 Aliaksandra Herasimenia 24.42 Q 4 12 4 Bronte Campbell 24.45 Q5 10 5 Abbey Weitzeil 24.48 Q 11 6 Jeanette Ottesen Q 7 11 4 Cate Campbell 24.52 Q8 10 3 Chantal Van Landeghem 24.57 Q 10 4 Ranomi Kromowidjojo Q 10 12 5 Sarah Sjöström 24.66 Q 11 11 3 Simone Manuel 24.71 Q 12 11 7 Therese Alshammar 24.73 Q13 9 7 Inge Dekker 24.77 Q 12 3 Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace Q 12 7 Dorothea Brandt Q 16 11 2 Etiene Medeiros 24.82 Q 17 11 8 Silvia di Pietro 24.89 18 9 4 Farida Osman 24.91 AF 10 7 Liu Xiang 12 1 Michelle Williams 21 10 2 Anna Santamans 24.93 22 8 8 Vanessa García 24.94 NR 11 1 Rozaliya Nasretdinova 24 7 4 Susann Bjørnsen 25.05 25 10 8 Flóra Molnár 25.07 26 7 6 Julie Meynen 25.12 27 9 6 Yuliya Khitraya 25.18 28 7 5 Liliana Ibáñez 25.25 29 9 5 Aleksandra Urbańczyk 25.28 30 7 2 Isabella Arcila 25.35 31 8 4 Mélanie Henique 25.36 32 9 3 Theodora Drakou 25.36 33 8 7 Zohar Shikler 25.38 34 8 3 Erika Ferraioli 25.40 35 9 8 Andrea Murez 25.41 36 9 2 Rikako Ikee 25.45 37 8 5 Anna Dowgiert 25.54 38 12 8 Nataliya Lovtsova 25.55 39 8 6 Birgit Koschischek 25.58 40 10 1 Graciele Herrmann 25.60 41 7 3 Alexandra Touretski 25.66 42 9 1 Darya Stepanyuk 25.67 43 8 1 Yayoi Matsumoto 25.73 44 7 8 Camille Cheng 25.92 45 7 7 Allyson Ponson 26.00 46 6 2 Karen Torrez 26.12 47 6 4 Naomi Ruele 26.23 48 6 8 Elinah Phillip 26.26 49 6 3 Bayan Jumah 26.41 7 1 Lin Pei-wun 51 6 7 Talita Baqlah 26.48 52 6 5 Rebecca Heyliger 26.54 53 6 6 Nicola Muscat 26.60 54 5 6 Faye Sultan 26.86 55 6 1 Dorian McMenemy 27.37 56 5 3 Naomy Grand Pierre 27.46 57 5 5 Samantha Roberts 27.95 58 4 4 Colleen Furgeson 28.16 59 5 2 Noura Mana 28.20 60 4 6 Yesuin Bayar 28.40 NR 61 5 8 Irene Prescott 28.68 62 4 7 Mary Al-Atrash 28.76 63 5 7 Jamila Sanmoogan 28.88 64 5 1 Lianna Swan 29.02 65 3 3 Dirngulbai Misech 29.19 66 4 8 Hemthon Vitiny 29.37 NR67 3 4 Angelika Ouedraogo 29.44 NR 4 5 Magdalena Moshi 69 3 5 Sonia Aktar 29.99 NR 70 1 6 Ei Ei Thet 30.25 71 4 2 Ammara Pinto 30.32 72 4 1 Debra Daniel 30.83 73 2 2 Anastasiya Tyurina 31.15 74 1 3 Fatema Almahmeed 32.28 75 3 6 Rahel Gebresilassie 32.51 76 3 7 Siri Arun Budcharern 32.55 NR 77 2 6 Laraïba Seibou 33.01 78 1 5 Nada Al-Bedwawi 33.42 79 3 8 Adzo Kpossi 33.44 80 3 1 Elsie Uwamahoro 33.70 81 2 4 Bellore Sangala 33.71 3 2 Fatoumata Samassékou 83 2 7 Roukaya Mahamane 35.60 NR 84 2 5 Haneen Ibrahim 36.23 85 2 8 Chloe Sauvourel 37.15 86 2 3 Nazlati Mohamed Andhumdine 37.66 87 2 1 Mariama Sow 39.85 88 1 4 Bunturabie Jalloh 39.93 5 4 Monika Vasilyan 12 2 Chen Xinyi 4 3 Awa Ly N'diaye
Semifinals Semifinal 1 Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes 1 4 Francesca Halsall 24.41 Q 2 5 Bronte Campbell 24.43 Q 3 8 Etiene Medeiros 24.45 Q, SA 4 1 Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace 24.60 5 6 Chantal Van Landeghem 24.61 6 3 Jeanette Ottesen 24.62 7 2 Sarah Sjöström 24.69 8 7 Therese Alshammar 24.72
Semifinal 2 Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes 1 4 Pernille Blume 24.28 Q 2 6 Cate Campbell 24.32 Q 3 2 Ranomi Kromowidjojo 24.39 Q 4 7 Simone Manuel 24.44 Q 5 5 Aliaksandra Herasimenia 24.53 Q 6 3 Abbey Weitzeil 24.67 7 8 Dorothea Brandt 24.71 8 1 Inge Dekker 25.31
Final Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes 4 Pernille Blume 24.07 NR 7 Simone Manuel 24.09 8 Aliaksandra Herasimenia 24.11 NR 4 6 Francesca Halsall 24.13 5 5 Cate Campbell 24.15 6 3 Ranomi Kromowidjojo 24.19 7 2 Bronte Campbell 24.42 8 1 Etiene Medeiros 24.69
References