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The women's 800 metre freestyle event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 14 and 16 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.[1]
| Women's 800 metre freestyle at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Beijing National Aquatics Center | ||||||||||||
| Date | August 14, 2008 (heats) August 16, 2008 (final) | ||||||||||||
| Competitors | 36 from 29 nations | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 8:14.10 WR | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Great Britain's Rebecca Adlington broke one of the oldest world records in the book to claim a second Olympic gold, following her first triumph in the 400 m freestyle. She touched the wall first in 8:14.10, slashing 2.12-second deficit off Janet Evans' world record which had stood for nearly 19 years.[2][3]
Coming from sixth place in the 350-metre lap, Italy's Alessia Filippi registered a time of 8:20.23 for a silver medal. Lotte Friis ended Denmark's 20-year medal drought in swimming to claim a bronze in 8:23.03, edging out Romania's Camelia Potec (8:23.03) on the final lap by eight-hundredths of a second. China's Li Xuanxu finished fifth with a time of 8:26.34, and was followed in the sixth spot by Australia's Kylie Palmer in 8:26.39. Russia's Yelena Sokolova (8:29.79) and another Brit Cassandra Patten (8:32.35) rounded out the finale. Notable swimmers missed out the top 8 final featuring U.S. top favorites Katie Hoff and Kate Ziegler, both of whom placed tenth and eleventh in the prelims race.[2][4]
Earlier in the prelims, Adlington established a new Olympic standard in a top-seeded time of 8:18.06 to cut down Brooke Bennett's 2000 record by a 1.59-second deficit.[4]
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record |  Janet Evans (USA) | 8:16.22 | Tokyo, Japan | 20 August 1989 | [5] |
| Olympic record |  Brooke Bennett (USA) | 8:19.67 | Sydney, Australia | 22 September 2000 | - |
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 14 | Heat 4 | Rebecca Adlington |  Great Britain | 8:18.06 | OR |
| August 16 | Final | Rebecca Adlington | Great Britain | 8:14.10 | WR |
Heats
Final
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 4 | Rebecca Adlington | Great Britain | 8:14.10 | WR |
 | 6 | Alessia Filippi |  Italy | 8:20.23 | |
 | 3 | Lotte Friis |  Denmark | 8:23.03 | |
| 4 | 5 | Camelia Potec |  Romania | 8:23.11 | |
| 5 | 1 | Li Xuanxu |  China | 8:26.34 | |
| 6 | 2 | Kylie Palmer |  Australia | 8:26.39 | |
| 7 | 7 | Yelena Sokolova |  Russia | 8:29.79 | |
| 8 | 8 | Cassandra Patten | Great Britain | 8:32.35 |
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