# Swimming at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's 50 metre freestyle

The men's 50 metre freestyle event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place between 11–12 August at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium.

## Summary

Sixteen years after he tied for the gold with Gary Hall, Jr., U.S. swimmer Anthony Ervin, aged 35, reclaimed his title in the program's shortest race to become the oldest male champion in Olympic swimming history. He threw down a gold-medal time of 21.40 to touch out the defending titleholder Florent Manaudou of France by a hundredth of a second. Manaudou was quick off the blocks, but could not catch Ervin near the wall to finish with a silver in 21.41. Meanwhile, Ervin's teammate Nathan Adrian swam to another bronze-medal feat at the Games with a 21.49.
Separated the top three by almost two tenths of a second, Great Britain's Benjamin Proud finished off the podium with a fourth-place time in 21.68, while Ukraine's Andriy Govorov, who led a vast field of swimmers earlier in the heats, slipped shortly to fifth in 21.74. Brazil's hometown favorite Bruno Fratus, fourth-place finalist from London 2012, and South Africa's Brad Tandy shared the sixth spot in a matching 21.79, with Lithuanian swimmer Simonas Bilis (22.08) closing out the field.
Other notable swimmers featured Australia's Cameron McEvoy, Russia's Vladimir Morozov, Manaudou's brother-in-law and countryman Frédérick Bousquet, and Trinidad and Tobago's George Bovell, who scored a twenty-seventh place finish in his fifth Olympic appearance.

## Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record | César Cielo (BRA) | 20.91 | São Paulo, Brazil | 18 December 2009 |
| Olympic record | César Cielo (BRA) | 21.30 | Beijing, China | 16 August 2008 |

## Qualification

The Olympic Qualifying Time for the event was 22.27 seconds. Up to two swimmers per National Olympic Committee (NOC) could automatically qualify by swimming that time at an approved qualification event. The Olympic Selection Time was 23.05 seconds. Up to one swimmer per NOC meeting that time was eligible for selection, allocated by world ranking until the maximum quota for all swimming events was reached. NOCs without a male swimmer qualified in any event could also use their universality place.

## Competition format

The competition consisted of three rounds: heats, semifinals, and a final. The swimmers with the best 16 times in the heats advanced to the semifinals. The swimmers with the best 8 times in the semifinals advanced to the final. Swim-offs were used as necessary to break ties for advancement to the next round.

## Results
### Heats

The swimmers with the top 16 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the semifinals.
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Name | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 11 | 3 | Andriy Govorov | Ukraine | 21.49 | Q, NR |
| 2 | 10 | 4 | Nathan Adrian | United States | 21.61 | Q |
| 3 | 10 | 5 | Anthony Ervin | United States | 21.63 | Q |
| 4 | 11 | 4 | Florent Manaudou | France | 21.72 | Q |
| 5 | 9 | 4 | Cameron McEvoy | Australia | 21.80 | Q |
| 6 | 9 | 5 | Vladimir Morozov | Russia | 21.81 | Q |
| 7 | 10 | 3 | Benjamin Proud | Great Britain | 21.83 | Q |
| 7 | 10 | 7 | Santo Condorelli | Canada | 21.83 | Q |
| 9 | 9 | 2 | Luca Dotto | Italy | 21.87 | Q |
| 10 | 10 | 6 | Kristian Gkolomeev | Greece | 21.93 | Q |
| 10 | 11 | 5 | Bruno Fratus | Brazil | 21.93 | Q |
| 12 | 9 | 6 | Brad Tandy | South Africa | 21.94 | Q |
| 13 | 11 | 6 | Ítalo Duarte | Brazil | 21.96 | Q |
| 14 | 9 | 7 | Shinri Shioura | Japan | 22.01 | Q |
| 14 | 11 | 8 | Simonas Bilis | Lithuania | 22.01 | Q, NR |
| 16 | 10 | 8 | Norbert Trandafir | Romania | 22.10 | Q |
| 17 | 11 | 2 | Krisztián Takács | Hungary | 22.12 | |
| 18 | 10 | 2 | Katsumi Nakamura | Japan | 22.13 | |
| 19 | 9 | 3 | Damian Wierling | Germany | 22.18 | |
| 20 | 8 | 2 | Yu Hexin | China | 22.20 | |
| 21 | 7 | 8 | Renzo Tjon-A-Joe | Suriname | 22.23 | NR |
| 21 | 8 | 4 | Filip Wypych | Poland | 22.23 | |
| 23 | 7 | 2 | Ali Khalafalla | Egypt | 22.25 | =NR |
| 23 | 11 | 7 | Ari-Pekka Liukkonen | Finland | 22.25 | |
| 25 | 7 | 1 | Oussama Sahnoune | Algeria | 22.27 | |
| 25 | 9 | 1 | Frédérick Bousquet | France | 22.27 | |
| 27 | 8 | 7 | George Bovell | Trinidad and Tobago | 22.30 | |
| 28 | 8 | 3 | Aleksei Brianskiy | Russia | 22.33 | |
| 29 | 7 | 7 | Douglas Erasmus | South Africa | 22.37 | |
| 30 | 8 | 8 | Ning Zetao | China | 22.38 | |
| 31 | 7 | 6 | Federico Grabich | Argentina | 22.44 | |
| 32 | 6 | 4 | Geoffrey Cheah | Hong Kong | 22.46 | |
| 33 | 8 | 5 | Odysseus Meladinis | Greece | 22.47 | |
| 33 | 10 | 1 | Matthew Abood | Australia | 22.47 | |
| 35 | 7 | 3 | Yuri Kisil | Canada | 22.50 | |
| 35 | 9 | 8 | Paweł Juraszek | Poland | 22.50 | |
| 37 | 11 | 1 | Federico Bocchia | Italy | 22.54 | |
| 38 | 8 | 1 | François Heersbrandt | Belgium | 22.58 | |
| 39 | 7 | 4 | Jasper Aerents | Belgium | 22.61 | |
| 40 | 6 | 5 | Mario Todorović | Croatia | 22.65 | |
| 41 | 1 | 3 | Sidni Hoxha | Albania | 22.80 | NR |
| 41 | 8 | 6 | Ziv Kalontarov | Israel | 22.80 | |
| 43 | 6 | 6 | Shane Ryan | Ireland | 22.88 | |
| 44 | 6 | 3 | Cristian Quintero | Venezuela | 22.92 | |
| 45 | 6 | 2 | Jordan Augier | Saint Lucia | 23.28 | |
| 46 | 6 | 7 | José Alberto Quintanilla | Bolivia | 23.35 | |
| 47 | 6 | 1 | Vahan Mkhitaryan | Armenia | 23.50 | |
| 48 | 5 | 6 | Abdoul Niane | Senegal | 23.66 | |
| 49 | 4 | 4 | Hilal Hemed Hilal | Tanzania | 23.70 | NR |
| 50 | 6 | 8 | Anthony Barbar | Lebanon | 23.77 | |
| 51 | 5 | 4 | Meli Malani | Fiji | 23.88 | |
| 51 | 5 | 5 | Maksim Inić | Montenegro | 23.88 | |
| 53 | 5 | 3 | Ahmad Attellesey | Libya | 23.89 | |
| 54 | 5 | 7 | Mahfizur Rahman Sagor | Bangladesh | 23.92 | |
| 55 | 5 | 8 | Abeiku Jackson | Ghana | 24.30 | |
| 56 | 1 | 7 | Adam Viktora | Seychelles | 24.32 | |
| 57 | 5 | 1 | Lum Zhaveli | Kosovo | 24.53 | |
| 58 | 4 | 5 | Farhan Farhan | Bahrain | 24.61 | |
| 59 | 4 | 3 | Samson Opuakpo | Nigeria | 24.85 | |
| 60 | 5 | 2 | Batsaikhany Dulguun | Mongolia | 24.90 | |
| 61 | 2 | 1 | Nikolas Sylvester | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 25.64 | NR |
| 62 | 4 | 8 | Olim Qurbonov | Tajikistan | 25.77 | |
| 63 | 4 | 7 | Giordan Harris | Marshall Islands | 25.81 | |
| 64 | 4 | 6 | Joshua Tibatemwa | Uganda | 25.98 | |
| 65 | 3 | 5 | Dionisio Augustine | Federated States of Micronesia | 26.17 | |
| 66 | 4 | 1 | Billy-Scott Irakose | Burundi | 26.36 | |
| 67 | 2 | 7 | Tindwende Sawadogo | Burkina Faso | 26.38 | |
| 68 | 4 | 2 | Eloi Imaniraguha | Rwanda | 26.43 | |
| 69 | 3 | 8 | Santisouk Inthavong | Laos | 26.54 | NR |
| 70 | 2 | 4 | Albachir Mouctar | Niger | 26.56 | NR |
| 71 | 3 | 4 | Ibrahim Nishwan | Maldives | 26.72 | |
| 72 | 3 | 6 | Shawn Dingilius-Wallace | Palau | 26.78 | |
| 73 | 2 | 5 | Osman Kamara | Sierra Leone | 26.90 | |
| 74 | 2 | 2 | Bourhan Abro | Djibouti | 27.13 | |
| 75 | 1 | 5 | Maël Ambonguilat | Gabon | 27.21 | |
| 76 | 3 | 1 | Athoumane Solihi | Comoros | 27.31 | |
| 77 | 3 | 2 | Jules Bessan | Benin | 27.32 | |
| 78 | 3 | 3 | Amadou Camara | Guinea | 27.35 | |
| 79 | 3 | 7 | Pap Jonga | The Gambia | 27.48 | |
| 80 | 2 | 6 | Eméric Kpegba | Togo | 27.67 | |
| 81 | 2 | 3 | Abdelaziz Mohamed Ahmed | Sudan | 27.71 | |
| 82 | 2 | 8 | Dienov Andres Koka | Republic of the Congo | 28.00 | |
| 83 | 1 | 4 | Brave Lifa | Malawi | 28.54 | |
| 84 | 1 | 2 | Christian Nassif | Central African Republic | 30.00 | |
| 85 | 1 | 6 | Frantz Dorsainvil | Haiti | 30.86 | |

### Semifinals

The swimmers with the best 8 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the final.
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Name | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | 5 | Florent Manaudou | France | 21.32 | Q |
| 2 | 2 | 4 | Andriy Govorov | Ukraine | 21.46 | Q, NR |
| 2 | 2 | 5 | Anthony Ervin | United States | 21.46 | Q |
| 4 | 1 | 4 | Nathan Adrian | United States | 21.47 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | 6 | Benjamin Proud | Great Britain | 21.54 | Q, NR |
| 6 | 2 | 7 | Bruno Fratus | Brazil | 21.71 | Q |
| 6 | 2 | 8 | Simonas Bilis | Lithuania | 21.71 | Q, NR |
| 8 | 1 | 7 | Brad Tandy | South Africa | 21.80 | Q |
| 9 | 2 | 2 | Luca Dotto | Italy | 21.84 | |
| 10 | 1 | 3 | Vladimir Morozov | Russia | 21.88 | |
| 11 | 2 | 3 | Cameron McEvoy | Australia | 21.89 | |
| 12 | 1 | 6 | Santo Condorelli | Canada | 21.97 | |
| 13 | 1 | 2 | Kristian Gkolomeev | Greece | 21.98 | |
| 14 | 1 | 8 | Norbert Trandafir | Romania | 21.99 | |
| 15 | 2 | 1 | Ítalo Duarte | Brazil | 22.05 | |
| 16 | 1 | 1 | Shinri Shioura | Japan | 22.18 | |

### Final

| Rank | Lane | Name | Nation | Time |
| | 3 | Anthony Ervin | United States | 21.40 |
| | 4 | Florent Manaudou | France | 21.41 |
| | 6 | Nathan Adrian | United States | 21.49 |
| 4 | 2 | Benjamin Proud | Great Britain | 21.68 |
| 5 | 5 | Andriy Govorov | Ukraine | 21.74 |
| 6 | 7 | Bruno Fratus | Brazil | 21.79 |
| 6 | 8 | Brad Tandy | South Africa | 21.79 |
| 8 | 1 | Simonas Bilis | Lithuania | 22.08 |