Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Men's 50 metre freestyle
The men's 50 metre freestyle event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 21–22 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia.
U.S. swimmers Gary Hall, Jr. and Anthony Ervin, who trained together at the Phoenix Swim Club, tied for the gold; they finished with a matching time of 21.98, edging out Dutch swimmer Pieter van den Hoogenband in 22.03.
Italy's Lorenzo Vismara finished fourth in 22.11, while Poland's Bartosz Kizierowski was a fraction behind the leading pack in sixth at 22.22. Russia's double defending champion Alexander Popov finished outside the medals in sixth place with a time of 22.24. Great Britain's four-time Olympian Mark Foster and Ukraine's Oleksandr Volynets rounded out the finale. Earlier in the prelims, Volynets made a surprise packet with a ninth fastest time and a Ukrainian record of 22.52 to lead the sixth heat.
Ervin stopped swimming competitively in 2003, auctioned off his gold medal on eBay to aid survivors of the 2004 tsunami, but returned from retirement to claim his place on his second Olympics, in London, twelve years after his first. Both men would later continue to win another gold in this event outright, edging out the runner-up by 0.01 second in their respective races.
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.Competition format
In a change from previous Games, 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
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Name | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 9 | 6 | Bartosz Kizierowski | 22.05 | , NR | |
| 2 | 9 | 4 | Gary Hall, Jr. | 22.14 | ||
| 3 | 10 | 4 | Alexander Popov | 22.15 | ||
| 4 | 8 | 4 | Anthony Ervin | 22.24 | ||
| 5 | 10 | 5 | Pieter van den Hoogenband | 22.32 | ||
| 6 | 8 | 6 | Ricardo Busquets | 22.42 | ||
| 7 | 10 | 6 | Brett Hawke | 22.45 | , OC | |
| 8 | 9 | 5 | Brendon Dedekind | 22.48 | ||
| 9 | 6 | 2 | Oleksandr Volynets | 22.52 | , NR | |
| 10 | 10 | 3 | Roland Mark Schoeman | 22.53 | ||
| 10 | 8 | 7 | Stefan Nystrand | 22.53 | , NR | |
| 12 | 9 | 2 | Johan Kenkhuis | 22.61 | ||
| 13 | 8 | 5 | Lorenzo Vismara | 22.62 | ||
| 14 | 8 | 3 | Mark Foster | 22.65 | ||
| 15 | 9 | 8 | Denis Pimankov | 22.74 | ||
| 16 | 10 | 2 | Chris Fydler | 22.80 | ||
| 17 | 7 | 4 | Jiang Chengji | 22.82 | ||
| 17 | 6 | 6 | Kim Min-suk | 22.82 | NR | |
| 19 | 10 | 8 | Julio Santos | 22.83 | ||
| 20 | 9 | 3 | Fernando Scherer | 22.88 | ||
| 21 | 8 | 2 | José Meolans | 22.89 | ||
| 22 | 8 | 1 | Salim Iles | 22.95 | ||
| 23 | 10 | 7 | Edvaldo Silva Filho | 22.96 | ||
| 23 | 8 | 8 | Eduardo Lorente | 22.96 | ||
| 25 | 6 | 8 | Peter Mankoč | 23.02 | ||
| 26 | 7 | 6 | Attila Zubor | 23.03 | ||
| 27 | 6 | 7 | Stavros Michaelides | 23.05 | ||
| 28 | 7 | 1 | Stephan Kunzelmann | 23.08 | ||
| 29 | 10 | 1 | Indrek Sei | 23.11 | ||
| 30 | 5 | 1 | Ravil Nachaev | 23.12 | ||
| 31 | 7 | 2 | Christophe Bühler | 23.15 | ||
| 32 | 7 | 7 | Marijan Kanjer | 23.16 | ||
| 33 | 7 | 5 | Marcos Hernández | 23.20 | ||
| 34 | 7 | 3 | Dzmitry Kalinouski | 23.21 | ||
| 34 | 6 | 5 | Yoav Bruck | 23.21 | ||
| 36 | 7 | 8 | Pedro Silva | 23.27 | ||
| 37 | 5 | 4 | Allan Murray | 23.34 | ||
| 38 | 6 | 1 | Rolandas Gimbutis | 23.36 | ||
| 39 | 6 | 4 | Thierry Wouters | 23.44 | ||
| 40 | 4 | 1 | Sergey Borisenko | 23.46 | ||
| 41 | 4 | 4 | Sergey Ashihmin | 23.53 | ||
| 42 | 5 | 7 | Richard Sam Bera | 23.56 | ||
| 43 | 5 | 8 | Nebojša Bikić | 23.57 | ||
| 44 | 5 | 2 | Camilo Becerra | 23.63 | ||
| 45 | 3 | 4 | Estebán Blanco | 23.72 | NR | |
| 46 | 5 | 6 | Tamer Hamed | 23.77 | ||
| 47 | 4 | 8 | Serghei Stolearenco | 23.84 | ||
| 48 | 4 | 3 | Paul Kutscher | 23.90 | ||
| 49 | 4 | 7 | Luis López Hartinger | 24.00 | ||
| 49 | 4 | 6 | Leslie Kwok | 24.00 | ||
| 51 | 4 | 2 | Huang Chih-yung | 24.01 | ||
| 52 | 3 | 5 | Howard Hinds | 24.07 | ||
| 53 | 4 | 5 | Harbeth Fu Wing | 24.20 | ||
| 54 | 3 | 8 | Zurab Beridze | 24.28 | ||
| 55 | 5 | 3 | Rodrigo Olivares | 24.50 | ||
| 56 | 3 | 1 | Ayoub Al-Mas | 24.91 | ||
| 57 | 3 | 3 | Omar Hughes | 25.07 | ||
| 58 | 3 | 2 | Dmitri Margaryan | 25.29 | ||
| 59 | 2 | 6 | Jamie Peterkin | 25.33 | ||
| 60 | 3 | 7 | Emin Guliyev | 25.36 | ||
| 61 | 1 | 1 | Wael Ghassan | 25.43 | ||
| 62 | 2 | 4 | Davy Bisslik | 25.57 | ||
| 63 | 3 | 6 | João Aguiar | 25.70 | ||
| 64 | 2 | 5 | Muhammad Ahmed | 25.84 | ||
| 65 | 2 | 3 | Ilidio Matusse | 26.28 | ||
| 66 | 2 | 8 | Hem Kiri | 26.41 | ||
| 67 | 2 | 1 | Kenneth Maronie | 26.85 | ||
| 68 | 2 | 7 | Khalid Al-Kulaibi | 26.96 | ||
| 69 | 1 | 5 | Chitra Bahadur Gurung | 27.02 | ||
| 70 | 2 | 2 | Sikhounxay Ounkhamphanyavong | 27.03 | ||
| 71 | 1 | 4 | Anlloyd Samuel | 27.24 | ||
| 72 | 1 | 3 | Stephenson Wallace | 27.84 | ||
| 73 | 1 | 6 | Hassan Mubah | 28.86 | ||
| 74 | 1 | 2 | Bakary Sereme | 29.69 | ||
| 75 | 1 | 8 | Samson Ndayishimiye | 38.76 | ||
| 1 | 7 | Mohamed Abdul Hamid | ||||
| 6 | 3 | Craig Hutchison | ||||
| 5 | 5 | Francisco Sánchez | ||||
| 9 | 1 | Romain Barnier | ||||
| 9 | 7 | Lars Frölander |
Semifinals
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Name | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | 4 | Gary Hall, Jr. | 22.07 | ||
| 2 | 2 | 3 | Pieter van den Hoogenband | 22.11 | ||
| 3 | 1 | 5 | Anthony Ervin | 22.13 | ||
| 4 | 2 | 5 | Alexander Popov | 22.17 | ||
| 5 | 2 | 1 | Lorenzo Vismara | 22.30 | ||
| 6 | 1 | 1 | Mark Foster | 22.32 | ||
| 7 | 2 | 4 | Bartosz Kizierowski | 22.35 | ||
| 8 | 2 | 2 | Oleksandr Volynets | 22.36 | , NR | |
| 9 | 1 | 6 | Brendon Dedekind | 22.39 | ||
| 10 | 1 | 8 | Chris Fydler | 22.41 | ||
| 10 | 2 | 7 | Roland Mark Schoeman | 22.41 | ||
| 12 | 1 | 7 | Johan Kenkhuis | 22.47 | ||
| 13 | 2 | 6 | Brett Hawke | 22.49 | ||
| 13 | 1 | 2 | Stefan Nystrand | 22.49 | NR | |
| 15 | 1 | 3 | Ricardo Busquets | 22.51 | ||
| 16 | 2 | 8 | Denis Pimankov | 22.89 |