[1] United States' Gary Hall Jr. defended his Olympic title in the event in 21.93, just two hundredths of a second off the record set by Alexander Popov in 1992.

[2] The silver medal was awarded to Croatia's Duje Draganja, who placed behind Hall in 21.94.

South Africa's Roland Mark Schoeman completed his full set of medals by adding a bronze in 22.02.

[3] Defending bronze medalist Pieter van den Hoogenband of the Netherlands (22.56), and dual Olympic champion Alexander Popov of Russia (22.58) missed the semifinals.

[4] By the following year, Popov announced his retirement from swimming, and became a full-time member of the International Olympic Committee.