[2] Alain Bernard stormed home on the final lap to claim France's first ever gold medal in the event with a time of 47.21.

[3] Australia's world record holder Eamon Sullivan enjoyed a great start in the first 50 metres, but ended up with a silver in 47.32, just 0.11 of a second behind Bernard.

Although he missed an opportunity to attain a third straight triumph in the same event, Van den Hoogenband became the first ever swimmer to reach the final at his fourth Olympics.

[4][6][7] Van den Hoogenband was followed in sixth by South Africa's Lyndon Ferns (48.04), and in seventh by Sullivan's teammate Matt Targett (48.20).

Swimming in the first heat, Bernard delivered a time of 47.20 to erase a 0.04-second standard set by Sullivan during his lead-off leg in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay.

While van den Hoogenband was the returning champion, the clear favorites in the event were Frenchman Alain Bernard and Australian Eamon Sullivan.