Gary Hall , Jr. and Anthony Ervin were the Olympic qualifiers in the event .
Qualifiers tied for gold in a dead heat at the 2000 Summer Olympics 50 meter freestyle in 21.98 seconds , which was just . 05 seconds ahead of Pieter van den Hoogenband .
Gary Hall , Jr. and Anthony Ervin were the Olympic qualifiers in the event and they tied for gold in a dead heat at the 2000 Summer Olympics 50 meter freestyle in 21.98 seconds , which was just . 05 seconds ahead of Pieter van den Hoogenband .