[1] U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps broke an Olympic record of 51.25 to claim his fifth gold medal, edging out his teammate and world record holder Ian Crocker by four hundredths of a second (0.04).

Meanwhile, Ukraine's Andriy Serdinov earned a bronze in a European record of 51.36.

[2][3] Earlier in the semifinals, Serdinov blasted a new Olympic record, previously set by Australia's Geoff Huegill in Sydney four years ago, with a time of 51.74.

One heat later, Phelps stopped the clock at 51.61 to lower the record by 0.13 of a second.

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