Competitors 63 from 41 nations Start date 1988 | Winning time 1:47.25 WR | |
Location Jamsil Indoor Swimming Pool, Songpa District, South Korea Venue Jamsil Indoor Swimming Pool | ||
The men's 200 metre freestyle event at the 1988 Summer Olympics took place on 18–19 September at the Jamsil Indoor Swimming Pool in Seoul, South Korea.
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Australia's Duncan Armstrong stunned the field with a new world record to snatch the Olympic title in the event, regarding as one of the most delightfully surprising upsets in history. Swimming in lane six and coming from third at the final turn, he put a late resistant charge to edge out a vastly experienced field for the gold medal in 1:47.25. His time also sliced 0.19 seconds off the global standard set by West Germany's Michael Gross at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Sweden's Anders Holmertz overhauled U.S. swimmer Matt Biondi about the midway through the final stretch, but could not catch Armstrong near the wall to finish only with a silver in 1:47.89. Leading almost the entire race, Biondi faded down the stretch to demolish the 1:48 barrier and settle for the bronze with a 1:47.99.
Poland's Artur Wojdat, a top qualifier on the morning prelims, dropped off the podium to a fourth-place time in 1:48.40. Meanwhile, Groß missed a chance to defend his Olympic title with a fifth-place finish in 1:48.59.
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
The following records were established during the competition:
Heats
Rule: The eight fastest swimmers advance to final A (Q), while the next eight to final B (q).