The women's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 20–21 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia.[1]
| Women's 200 metre breaststroke at the Games of the XXVII Olympiad | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Sydney International Aquatic Centre | ||||||||||||
| Date | September 20, 2000 (heats & semifinals) September 21, 2000 (final) | ||||||||||||
| Competitors | 36 from 30 nations | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 2:24.35 | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Charging back from third at the 150-metre turn, Hungary's Ágnes Kovács edged out U.S. swimmer Kristy Kowal on the final stretch to capture the gold in 2:24.35.[2][3] Kowal, who seized off a powerful lead from the start, took home the silver in a new American record of 2:24.56. Her teammate Amanda Beard, silver medalist in Atlanta four years earlier, gave the Americans a further reason to celebrate as she enjoyed the race to move up from eighth after the semifinals for the bronze in 2:25.35, holding off a fast-pacing Qi Hui of China (2:25.36) by a hundredth of a second (0.01).[4][5]
Qi was followed in fifth by Russia's Olga Bakaldina (2:25.47) and in sixth by South Africa's Sarah Poewe (2:25.72), fourth-place finalist in the 100 m breaststroke. Japan's Masami Tanaka (2:26.98) and Qi's teammate Luo Xuejuan (2:27.33) closed out the field.[5]
World record holder Penny Heyns missed a chance to defend her Olympic title in the event, after helplessly winding up a twentieth-place effort in the prelims at 2:30.17.[6] Shortly after the Games, she made a decision to officially announce her retirement from international swimming.[7][8]
Earlier, Kovacs established a new Olympic standard of 2:24.92 on the morning prelims to clear a 2:25-barrier and cut off Heyns' record by almost half a second (0.50).[6] Following by an evening session, she eventually lowered it to 2:24.03 in the semifinals.[9][10]
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were:
| World record |  Penny Heyns (RSA) | 2:23.64 | Sydney, Australia | 27 August 1999 | [11] |
| Olympic record |  Penny Heyns (RSA) | 2:25.41 | Atlanta, United States | 23 July 1996 | [11] |
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 September | Heat 5 | Ágnes Kovács |  Hungary | 2:24.92 | OR |
| 20 September | Semifinal 1 | Ágnes Kovács | Hungary | 2:24.03 | OR |
Results
Heats
Semifinals
Semifinal 1
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Kristy Kowal |  United States | 2:25.46 | Q |
| 2 | 6 | Sarah Poewe | South Africa | 2:25.54 | Q |
| 3 | 7 | Luo Xuejuan |  China | 2:25.86 | Q |
| 4 | 5 | Karine Brémond |  France | 2:27.86 | |
| 5 | 3 | Caroline Hildreth |  Australia | 2:28.30 | |
| 6 | 2 | Ku Hyo-Jin |  South Korea | 2:28.50 | |
| 7 | 1 | Anne Poleska |  Germany | 2:28.99 | |
| 8 | 8 | Junko Isoda |  Japan | 2:31.71 |
Semifinal 2
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Ágnes Kovács | Hungary | 2:24.03 | Q, OR, NR |
| 2 | 5 | Qi Hui | China | 2:24.21 | Q, NR |
| 3 | 2 | Olga Bakaldina |  Russia | 2:25.41 | Q, NR |
| 4 | 3 | Masami Tanaka | Japan | 2:26.24 | Q |
| 5 | 6 | Amanda Beard | United States | 2:26.62 | Q |
| 6 | 1 | Christin Petelski |  Canada | 2:29.43 | |
| 7 | 7 | Rebecca Brown | Australia | 2:29.90 | |
| 8 | 8 | Alicja Pęczak |  Poland | 2:30.02 |
Final
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 4 | Ágnes Kovács | Hungary | 2:24.35 | |
 | 6 | Kristy Kowal | United States | 2:24.56 | AM |
 | 8 | Amanda Beard | United States | 2:25.35 | |
| 4 | 5 | Qi Hui | China | 2:25.36 | |
| 5 | 3 | Olga Bakaldina | Russia | 2:25.47 | |
| 6 | 2 | Sarah Poewe | South Africa | 2:25.72 | |
| 7 | 1 | Masami Tanaka | Japan | 2:26.98 | |
| 8 | 7 | Luo Xuejuan | China | 2:27.33 |