Swimming at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre freestyle
| Men's 100 metre freestyle at the Games of the XXIV Olympiad
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| Venue | Jamsil Indoor Swimming Pool | ||||||||||||
| Date | 22 September 1988 (heats & finals) | ||||||||||||
| Competitors | 78 from 50 nations | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 48.63 OR | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
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Matt Biondi |
 United States
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Chris Jacobs |
United States
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Stéphan Caron |
 France
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The men's 100 metre freestyle event at the 1988 Summer Olympics took place on 22 September at the Jamsil Indoor Swimming Pool in Seoul, South Korea.
U.S. overwhelming favorite Matt Biondi smashed a new Olympic record to claim his first ever individual gold and fourth career medal in swimming at these Games. Maintaining a lead from start to finish, he pulled away from a star-studded field to hit the wall first in 48.63. Biondi also enjoyed his teammate Chris Jacobs taking home the silver in 49.08, as the Americans climbed on top of the podium for the sixth time in the event's Olympic history with a 1–2 finish. Earlier in the prelims, Jacobs sliced off Rowdy Gaines' 1984 record by six-tenths of a second to establish a new Olympic standard of 49.20 in the eighth heat, until Biondi eventually lowered it to 49.04 in the final of ten heats. Meanwhile, France's Stéphan Caron held off an intense sprint battle against Soviet duo Gennadiy Prigoda and Iurie Başcatov to take home the bronze in 49.62.
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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