[1] After finishing fourth in Sydney (2000), Japan's Kosuke Kitajima edged out U.S. swimmer and world-record holder Brendan Hansen to claim the gold medal by 0.17 of a second, in a time of 1:00.08.

[2][3][4] Hansen, who turned 23 on the final day, earned a silver in 1:00.25, while France's Hugues Duboscq held off onrushing American Mark Gangloff to take the bronze in 1:00.88.

[5][6] Earlier in the semifinals Hansen lowered an Olympic record to 1:00.01 that had been set by his archrival Kitajima in the preliminaries by just 0.02 of a second.

[7] Russia's Roman Sloudnov, the third-fastest man in Olympic history and the first to swim under one minute, missed the top 8 final by 0.18 seconds (1:01.54).

[7] Prior to this competition the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.