In Rio Belarus’ Aleksandra Gerasimenya, the winner of two silver medals at London 2012 and a holder of numerous medals of the world’s top competitions, had a number of disappointing heat results until she finally claimed her medal.
In the 50m freestyle final Aleksandra Gerasimenya finished third, setting a new national record of 24,11 seconds (in London she clocked 24.28 seconds). Pernille Blume of Denmark won the Olympic title in 24.07 seconds. Simone Manuel of the United States got silver (24.09).