Swimming at the 1988 Summer Olympics - Men's 50 metre freestyle
| Men's 50 metre freestyle at the Games of the XXIV Olympiad
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| Venue | Jamsil Indoor Swimming Pool | ||||||||||||
| Date | 24 September 1988 (heats & finals) | ||||||||||||
| Competitors | 71 from 44 nations | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 22.14 WR | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
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Matt Biondi |
 United States
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Tom Jager |
United States
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Gennadiy Prigoda |
 Soviet Union
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The inaugural men's 50 metre freestyle event at the 1988 Summer Olympics took place on 24 September at the Jamsil Indoor Swimming Pool in Seoul, South Korea.
U.S. swimmer Matt Biondi demolished a new world record to become the event's first ever Olympic champion. He threw down a scorching time in 22.14 to add a fourth gold and sixth medal to his Olympic hardware, and to slice 0.04 seconds off the record set by South Africa's Peter Williams. Starting the race with a fastest reaction, Biondi's rival and teammate Tom Jager faded down the stretch to pick up the silver in 22.36. Meanwhile, Soviet Union's Gennadiy Prigoda edged out Swiss swimmer Dano Halsall by 12-hundredths of a second to take home the bronze in 22.71.
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
The following records were established during the competition:
Rule: The eight fastest swimmers advance to final A (Q), while the next eight to final B (q).
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