The men's 800 metre freestyle event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held on 27 and 29 July 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.[1] It was the event's recurrence to the Games for the first time in over a century, having last been held in 1904.
| Men's 800 metre freestyle at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Venue | Tokyo Aquatics Centre | ||||||||||||
| Dates | 27 July 2021 (heats) 29 July 2021 (final) | ||||||||||||
| Competitors | 33 from 28 nations | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 7:41.87 | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
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← 1904 (880 yards)
2024 →
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The U.S.' Robert Finke came from behind to win a surprise gold in the inaugural Olympic men's 800-meter freestyle. Fourth at the final turn, Finke unleashed a massive 26.39 split to overtake the field and lower the American record to 7:41.87. Earlier in the heats, Finke broke Michael McBroom's American record after coming into the meet with a personal best time of 7:48.22 set at the U.S. Olympic Trials.
Swimming in lane 8, Italy's reigning World champion Gregorio Paltrinieri was out quickly and established a body-length lead at the 200 m mark. While Germany's Florian Wellbrock and Ukraine's Mykhailo Romanchuk gained control at the halfway stage, Paltrinieri overtook the duo to claim silver in 7:42.11. Despite setting the Olympic record in the heats, Romanchuk was unable to replicate the time and settled for bronze in 7:42.33. Wellbrock was also unable to repeat his German record from the heats, narrowly missing the podium by 0.35 seconds.
Australia's Jack McLoughlin, who claimed silver in the 400 m freestyle on night one, picked up the fifth spot with a 7:45.00 to hold off Ukraine's Serhiy Frolov (7:45.11) by 11 one-hundredths of a second. Austria's Felix Auboeck finished seventh in 7:49.14, with Brazil's Guilherme Costa (7:53.31) rounding out the top eight field.
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record |  Zhang Lin (CHN) |
7:32.12 | Rome, Italy | 29 July 2009 | [2] |
| Olympic record |  Emil Rausch (GER) |
13:11.4 (880 yards) | St. Louis, United States | 7 September 1904 | [3] |
The following record was established during the competition:
| Date | Event | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 27 | Heat 4 | Mykhailo Romanchuk |  Ukraine |
7:41.28 | OR |
The Olympic Qualifying Time for the event is 7:54.31. Up to two swimmers per National Olympic Committee (NOC) can automatically qualify by swimming that time at an approved qualification event. The Olympic Selection Time is 8:08.54. Up to one swimmer per NOC meeting that time is eligible for selection, allocated by world ranking until the maximum quota for all swimming events is reached. NOCs without a male swimmer qualified in any event can also use their universality place.[4]
The competition consists of two rounds: heats and a final. The swimmers with the best 8 times in the heats advance to the final. Swim-offs are used as necessary to break ties for advancement to the next round.[5]
All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)[1]
| Date | Time | Round |
|---|---|---|
| Tuesday, 27 July 2021 | 20:17 | Heats |
| Thursday, 29 July 2021 | 10:30 | Final |
The swimmers with the top 8 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the final.[6]
| Rank | Lane | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
3 | Robert Finke |  United States |
7:41.87 | NR |
 |
8 | Gregorio Paltrinieri |  Italy |
7:42.11 | |
 |
4 | Mykhailo Romanchuk | Ukraine |
7:42.33 | |
| 4 | 5 | Florian Wellbrock |  Germany |
7:42.68 | |
| 5 | 7 | Jack McLoughlin |  Australia |
7:45.00 | |
| 6 | 1 | Serhiy Frolov | Ukraine |
7:45.11 | |
| 7 | 6 | Felix Auböck |  Austria |
7:49.14 | |
| 8 | 2 | Guilherme Costa |  Brazil |
7:53.31 |
