2016 RIO OLYMPIC GAMES
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Swimming: August 6-13
- Olympic Aquatics Stadium, Barra Olympic Park, Rio de Janeiro
- Prelims – 9:00 a.m/12:00 p.m PST/EST (1:00 p.m local), Finals – 6:00 p.m/9:00 p.m PST/EST (10:00 p.m local)
- SwimSwam previews
- Schedule & Results
- Live Stream (NBC)
Mireia Belmonte wasn’t able to secure another medal in the 800 free final, but she did manage to break her own 800 free Spanish record.
Belmonte posted an 8:18.55 for 4th place, just over two seconds off of bronze position. That takes twenty one hundredths of a second off of her previous best and the old record.
Split comparison:
- Belmonte, 2015, old record: 59.95 – 2:02.42 – 3:05.30 – 4:08.51 – 5:11.00 – 6:13.43 – 7:15.73 – 8:18.76
- Belmonte, 2016, new record: 1:00.02 – 2:02.62 – 3:05.15 – 4:08.14 – 5:10.94 – 6:14.18 – 7:17.14 – 8:18.55
Belmonte didn’t really have a novel strategy to attack this race as compared to 2012– she went about it nearly the same exact way. Notably, her old time came from her silver medal performance behind Katie Ledecky in 2012– Ledecky’s international debut.
While the Spaniard was probably looking for another spot on the podium, she will still finish off these Olympics with two medals. Belmonte won the gold in the 200 fly, a hard-fought and much-deserved win for her, and she was also able to come away with a bronze in the 400 IM.