Swimming at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Men's 100-metre freestyle

Did You Know?

• South Korean Hwang Sun-woo withdrew from the semifinals to rest for the 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay.
• Pan Zhanle called his performance a 'perfect performance' after the race.

Background

Pan Zhanle broke that record at the 2024 World Championships with 46.80, the fastest Olympic qualification time. Kyle Chalmers, the 2016 Olympic champion and 2020 silver medallist, won the 2023 World Championships in 47.15. Jack Alexy of the US posted 47.08 at the 2024 US Olympic Trials. Other contenders included Maxime Grousset, Nándor Németh, and Alessandro Miressi. Caeleb Dressel did not qualify for this event. SwimSwam predicted Chalmers first, Grousset second, Popovici third; Swimming World predicted Popovici first, Pan second, Chalmers third.

Qualification

Each NOC could enter up to two athletes per event if both met the Olympic Qualifying Time of 48.34 seconds. World Aquatics considered universality entries, and remaining spots went to athletes meeting the Olympic Consideration Time of 48.58. In total, 32 athletes qualified via the OQT, 46 via universality, and one via the OCT.

Heats

Ten heats were held on 30 July starting at 11:17. Jack Alexy posted the fastest qualifying time of 47.57, followed by Maxime Grousset at 47.70. Pan Zhanle qualified joint 13th with 48.40. Between heats and semifinals, Pan broke the Olympic record with his relay split. Hwang Sun-woo withdrew from the semifinals, allowing William Yang to compete. National records were set by Alexander Shah of Nepal (51.91), Johnathan Silas of Vanuatu (59.38), and Jayhan Odlum-Smith of Saint Lucia (50.39).

Final

The final began at 22:39 on 31 July. Pan led from start to finish, recording the fastest opening 50 metres (22.28) and fastest closing 50 metres (24.12) to win in 46.40, breaking his own world record. Kyle Chalmers, last at the turn, swam the second-fastest closing 50 to take silver in 47.48. David Popovici finished 0.01 seconds behind for bronze in 47.49. Nándor Németh placed fourth in 47.50. Josha Salchow set a German record of 47.80 for sixth. All eight finalists finished under 48 seconds, an Olympic first. Pan's win was China's first medal in the event and the largest margin of victory since 1928.