The women's 800 metre freestyle event at the 2004 Olympic Games was contested at the Olympic Aquatic Centre of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex in Athens, Greece on August 19 and 20. The winning margin was 0.42 seconds which as of 2023 remains the narrowest winning margin in this event at the Olympics.
Japan's Ai Shibata became the first Asian swimmer to win an Olympic gold medal in long-distance freestyle swimming, outside the record time of 8:24.54. France's Laure Manaudou, who claimed the title in the 400 m freestyle, added a silver to her medal tally, with a time of 8:24.96. U.S. swimmer Diana Munz, on the other hand, edged out her teammate Kalyn Keller for the bronze medal by 0.36 of a second, clocking at 8:26.61.
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
Results
Heats
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Rank !! Heat !! Lane !! Name !! Nationality !! Time !! Notes
|-bgcolor=#ccffcc
| 1 || 4 || 3 ||align=left| Laure Manaudou ||align=left| || 8:25.91 || Q
|-bgcolor=#ccffcc
| 2 || 3 || 2 ||align=left| Rebecca Cooke ||align=left| || 8:28.47 || Q
|-bgcolor=#ccffcc
| 3 || 3 || 5 ||align=left| Ai Shibata ||align=left| || 8:30.08 || Q
|-bgcolor=#ccffcc
| 4 || 2 || 4 ||align=left| Diana Munz ||align=left| || 8:30.87 || Q
|-bgcolor=#ccffcc
| 5 || 2 || 3 ||align=left| Jana Henke ||align=left| || 8:31.86 || Q
|-bgcolor=#ccffcc
| 6 || 4 || 5 ||align=left| Kalyn Keller ||align=left| || 8:32.36 || Q
|-bgcolor=#ccffcc
| 7 || 4 || 6 ||align=left| Erika Villaécija ||align=left| || 8:33.61 || Q
|-bgcolor=#ccffcc
| 8 || 2 || 6 ||align=left| Simona Păduraru ||align=left| || 8:34.15 || Q
|-
| 9 || 2 || 2 ||align=left| Sarah Paton ||align=left| || 8:35.81 ||
|-
| 10 || 3 || 6 ||align=left| Linda Mackenzie ||align=left| || 8:35.90 ||
|-
| 11 || 4 || 2 ||align=left| Chen Hua ||align=left| || 8:36.24 ||
|-
| 12 || 3 || 4 ||align=left| Sachiko Yamada ||align=left| || 8:36.48 ||
|-
| 13 || 4 || 7 ||align=left| Flavia Rigamonti ||align=left| || 8:38.10 ||
|-
| 14 || 4 || 4 ||align=left| Hannah Stockbauer ||align=left| || 8:38.17 ||
|-
| 15 || 4 || 8 ||align=left| Kristel Köbrich ||align=left| || 8:40.41 ||
|-
| 16 || 3 || 3 ||align=left| Camelia Potec ||align=left| || 8:41.20 ||
|-
| 17 || 2 || 5 ||align=left| Brittany Reimer ||align=left| || 8:41.55 ||
|-
| 18 || 2 || 1 ||align=left| Marianna Lymperta ||align=left| || 8:42.65 ||
|-
| 19 || 3 || 1 ||align=left| Jana Pechanová ||align=left| || 8:47.38 ||
|-
| 20 || 2 || 7 ||align=left| Olga Beresnyeva ||align=left| || 8:57.96 ||
|-
| 21 || 1 || 2 ||align=left| Golda Marcus ||align=left| || 8:59.81 ||
|-
| 22 || 1 || 4 ||align=left| Kwon You-ri ||align=left| || 9:01.42 ||
|-
| 23 || 1 || 3 ||align=left| Jelena Petrova ||align=left| || 9:01.62 ||
|-
| 24 || 3 || 8 ||align=left| Rebecca Linton ||align=left| || 9:02.41 ||
|-
| 25 || 1 || 7 ||align=left| Heather Roffey ||align=left| || 9:02.88 ||
|-
| 26 || 2 || 8 ||align=left| Ivanka Moralieva ||align=left| || 9:03.13 ||
|-
| 27 || 1 || 6 ||align=left| Paola Duguet ||align=left| || 9:06.96 ||
|-
| 28 || 1 || 5 ||align=left| Anita Galić ||align=left| || 9:10.91 ||
|-
| 29 || 1 || 1 ||align=left| Khadija Ciss ||align=left| || 9:20.06 ||
|-
| || 3 || 7 ||align=left| Éva Risztov ||align=left| || ||
|-
| || 4 || 1 ||align=left| Anja Čarman ||align=left| || ||
|}
Final
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Rank !! Lane !! Swimmer !! Nation !! Time !! Notes
|-
| || 3 ||align=left| Ai Shibata ||align=left| || 8:24.54 ||
|-
| || 4 ||align=left| Laure Manaudou ||align=left| || 8:24.96 ||
|-
| ||6 ||align=left| Diana Munz ||align=left| || 8:26.61 ||
|-
| 4 || 7 ||align=left| Kalyn Keller ||align=left| || 8:26.97 ||
|-
| 5 || 1 ||align=left| Erika Villaécija ||align=left| || 8:29.04 ||
|-
| 6 || 5 ||align=left| Rebecca Cooke ||align=left| || 8:29.37 ||
|-
| 7 || 2 ||align=left| Jana Henke ||align=left| || 8:33.95 ||
|-
| 8 || 8 ||align=left| Simona Păduraru ||align=left| || 8:37.02 ||
|}
References
External links
- Official Olympic Report