Swimming at the 1976 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre freestyle
March 07, 2023
The men's 100 metre freestyle event at the 1976 Summer Olympics took place between July 24 and 25.[1] This was the first time in history that the 100m freestyle was swum under 50 seconds. There were 41 competitors from 27 nations.[2] Nations had been limited to three swimmers each since the 1924 Games (except in 1960, when the limit was two). The event was won by Jim Montgomery of the United States, the nation's second consecutive and tenth overall victory in the men's 100 metre freestyle (most of any nation). His countryman Jack Babashoff took silver. Peter Nocke's bronze was the first medal for West Germany in the event, though the United Team of Germany had won a bronze in 1964 (by West German Hans-Joachim Klein).
This was the 17th appearance of the men's 100 metre freestyle. The event has been held at every Summer Olympics except 1900 (when the shortest freestyle was the 200 metres), though the 1904 version was measured in yards rather than metres.[2]
Three of the eight finalists from the 1972 Games returned: bronze medalist Vladimir Bure of the Soviet Union, seventh-place finisher Michel Rousseau of France, and eighth-place finisher Klaus Steinbach of West Germany. Reigning gold medalist Mark Spitz had retired after the 1972 Games at the age of 22. The new American favorite was Jim Montgomery, who had set the world record at the 1975 AAU championships. His main challenger would have been Jonty Skinner, but apartheid South Africa was banned from the Olympics. Montgomery had finished third at the 1975 world championships behind Andy Coan (not competing in Montreal) and Bure.[2]
Bulgaria, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and the Virgin Islands each made their debut in the event. The United States made its 17th appearance, having competed at each edition of the event to date.
Competition format
The competition used a three-round (heats, semifinals, final) format. The advancement rule followed the format introduced in 1952, though with 2 semifinals. Swim-offs were used as necessary to break ties. A swimmer's place in the heat was not used to determine advancement; instead, the fastest times from across all heats in a round were used. There were 6 heats, with between 6 and 8 swimmers each. The top 16 swimmers advanced to the semifinals. There were 2 semifinals of 8 swimmers each. The top 8 swimmers advanced to the final.
This swimming event used freestyle swimming, which means that the method of the stroke is not regulated (unlike backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly events). Nearly all swimmers use the front crawl or a variant of that stroke. Because an Olympic size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of two lengths of the pool.
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
Jim Montgomery broke the world record in the first semifinal, posting a 50.39 second time. In the final, he was the first swimmer to break the 50-second barrier, winning in 49.99 seconds for the new world record.
^. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
^ abc"100 metres Freestyle, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
March 07, 2023
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The men s 100 metre freestyle event at the 1976 Summer Olympics took place between July 24 and 25 1 This was the first time in history that the 100m freestyle was swum under 50 seconds There were 41 competitors from 27 nations 2 Nations had been limited to three swimmers each since the 1924 Games except in 1960 when the limit was two The event was won by Jim Montgomery of the United States the nation s second consecutive and tenth overall victory in the men s 100 metre freestyle most of any nation His countryman Jack Babashoff took silver Peter Nocke s bronze was the first medal for West Germany in the event though the United Team of Germany had won a bronze in 1964 by West German Hans Joachim Klein Men s 100 metre freestyleat the Games of the XXI OlympiadJim MontgomeryVenueOlympic PoolDates24 25 JulyCompetitors41 from 27 nationsWinning time49 99 WRMedalistsJim Montgomery United StatesJack Babashoff United StatesPeter Nocke West Germany 19721980 Contents 1 Background 2 Competition format 3 Records 4 Schedule 5 Results 5 1 Heats 5 2 Semifinals 5 3 Final 6 ReferencesBackground EditThis was the 17th appearance of the men s 100 metre freestyle The event has been held at every Summer Olympics except 1900 when the shortest freestyle was the 200 metres though the 1904 version was measured in yards rather than metres 2 Three of the eight finalists from the 1972 Games returned bronze medalist Vladimir Bure of the Soviet Union seventh place finisher Michel Rousseau of France and eighth place finisher Klaus Steinbach of West Germany Reigning gold medalist Mark Spitz had retired after the 1972 Games at the age of 22 The new American favorite was Jim Montgomery who had set the world record at the 1975 AAU championships His main challenger would have been Jonty Skinner but apartheid South Africa was banned from the Olympics Montgomery had finished third at the 1975 world championships behind Andy Coan not competing in Montreal and Bure 2 Bulgaria Ecuador Nicaragua and the Virgin Islands each made their debut in the event The United States made its 17th appearance having competed at each edition of the event to date Competition format EditThe competition used a three round heats semifinals final format The advancement rule followed the format introduced in 1952 though with 2 semifinals Swim offs were used as necessary to break ties A swimmer s place in the heat was not used to determine advancement instead the fastest times from across all heats in a round were used There were 6 heats with between 6 and 8 swimmers each The top 16 swimmers advanced to the semifinals There were 2 semifinals of 8 swimmers each The top 8 swimmers advanced to the final This swimming event used freestyle swimming which means that the method of the stroke is not regulated unlike backstroke breaststroke and butterfly events Nearly all swimmers use the front crawl or a variant of that stroke Because an Olympic size swimming pool is 50 metres long this race consisted of two lengths of the pool Records EditPrior to this competition the existing world and Olympic records were as follows World record Jim Montgomery USA 50 59 Kansas City United States 23 August 1975Olympic record Mark Spitz USA 51 22 Munich West Germany 3 September 1972Jim Montgomery broke the world record in the first semifinal posting a 50 39 second time In the final he was the first swimmer to break the 50 second barrier winning in 49 99 seconds for the new world record Schedule EditAll times are Eastern Daylight Time UTC 4 Date Time RoundSaturday 24 July 1976 11 0019 00 HeatsSemifinalsSunday 25 July 1976 20 15 FinalResults EditHeats Edit Rank Heat Swimmer Nation Time Notes1 5 Joe Bottom United States 51 47 Q3 Klaus Steinbach West Germany 51 47 Q3 3 Jack Babashoff United States 51 53 Q4 2 Marcello Guarducci Italy 51 57 Q5 5 Peter Nocke West Germany 51 59 Q6 4 Vladimir Bure Soviet Union 51 81 Q7 4 Andrey Krylov Soviet Union 52 02 Q8 6 Jim Montgomery United States 52 13 Q9 6 Michel Rousseau France 52 43 Q10 2 Steve Pickell Canada 52 65 Q11 4 Gary MacDonald Canada 52 91 Q12 6 Roberto Pangaro Italy 53 05 Q13 2 Martin Smith Great Britain 53 17 Q14 2 Rene Ecuyer France 53 20 Q4 Svante Rasmuson Sweden 53 20 Q16 1 Andrey Bogdanov Soviet Union 53 23 QSO6 Kevin Burns Great Britain 53 23 QSO18 4 Glenn Patching Australia 53 2919 5 Bruce Robertson Canada 53 3720 5 Peter Coughlan Australia 53 4921 2 Ramon Volcan Venezuela 53 5322 6 Fritz Warncke Norway 53 5523 5 Dan Larsson Sweden 53 8124 1 Stefan Georgiev Bulgaria 53 8525 3 Jorge Delgado Jr Ecuador 53 9126 1 Roger Pyttel East Germany 53 9327 3 Neil Rogers Australia 53 9628 1 Dirk Braunleder West Germany 54 0429 1 Jorge Comas Spain 54 0530 5 Gianni Versari Panama 54 1131 1 Mark Crocker Hong Kong 54 1432 3 Paul Jouanneau Brazil 54 4933 2 Helmut Levy Colombia 54 6034 1 Kozo Higuchi Japan 54 6735 6 Fernando Canales Puerto Rico 55 3136 5 Steven Newkirk Virgin Islands 55 4337 6 Jose Pereira Portugal 55 4638 2 Kris Sumono Indonesia 55 5039 4 Gerardo Rosario Philippines 56 0040 6 Sigurdur olafsson Iceland 56 0141 3 Campari Knoepffler Nicaragua 58 48Swim offRank Swimmer Nation Time Notes1 Andrey Bogdanov Soviet Union 52 82 Q2 Kevin Burns Great Britain 53 11Semifinals Edit Rank Heat Swimmer Nation Time Notes1 1 Jim Montgomery United States 50 39 Q WR2 1 Marcello Guarducci Italy 51 35 Q3 2 Jack Babashoff United States 51 46 Q4 1 Klaus Steinbach West Germany 51 62 Q5 2 Peter Nocke West Germany 51 83 Q6 2 Joe Bottom United States 51 92 Q7 1 Vladimir Bure Soviet Union 51 93 Q8 2 Andrey Krylov Soviet Union 52 32 Q9 2 Michel Rousseau France 52 3610 1 Roberto Pangaro Italy 52 6811 1 Stephen Pickell Canada 52 8912 1 Rene Ecuyer France 52 9213 2 Gary MacDonald Canada 52 9614 1 Andrei Bogdanov Soviet Union 53 0515 2 Martin Smith Great Britain 53 1116 2 Svante Rasmussen Sweden 53 34Final Edit Rank Swimmer Nation Time Notes Jim Montgomery United States 49 99 WR Jack Babashoff United States 50 81 Peter Nocke West Germany 51 314 Klaus Steinbach West Germany 51 685 Marcello Guarducci Italy 51 706 Joe Bottom United States 51 797 Vladimir Bure Soviet Union 52 038 Andrey Krylov Soviet Union 52 15References Edit Swimming at the 1976 Montreal Summer Games Men s 100 metres Freestyle Sports Reference Archived from the original on 17 April 2020 Retrieved 3 December 2016 a b c 100 metres Freestyle Men Olympedia Retrieved 17 December 2020 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Swimming at the 1976 Summer Olympics Men 27s 100 metre freestyle amp oldid 1117442649, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
