At only 16 years of age, Diana Mocanu made an Olympic milestone to become Romania's first ever gold medalist in swimming. She fought off a head-to-head sprint challenge from Japan's Mai Nakamura on the final stretch to hit the wall first in a new Olympic standard of 1:00.21, the second-fastest of all time, cutting off Krisztina Egerszegi's 1992 record by nearly half a second (0.50).[2][3] Meanwhile, Nakamura seized off an early lead under a world-record pace (29.17), but ended up only with a silver medal in a Japanese record of 1:00.55.[4] Competing previously for the Unified Team and Russia in two Olympics (1992 and 1996), Nina Zhivanevskaya made a surprise packet with a bronze for Spain in a sterling time of 1:00.89.[5][6]
France's Roxana Maracineanu finished off the podium in fourth place at 1:01.10, and was followed in fifth by Nakamura's teammate Noriko Inada in 1:01.14.[4] Coming from second at the final turn, U.S. swimmer Barbara Bedford faded down the stretch to pick up the sixth spot with a time of 1:01.47. Aussie favorite Dyana Calub (1:01.61) and Denmark's Louise Ørnstedt (1:02.02) closed out the field.[6]
Notable swimmers missed out the top 8 final, featuring Germany's Antje Buschschulte, a pre-Olympic medal contender; South Africa's Charlene Wittstock, who eventually married to Albert II, Prince of Monaco in 2010; and Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry, who later emerged as one of the world's top backstroke swimmers in her decade.[7]
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
