Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metre individual medley

Men's 400 metre individual medley
at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad
Medal winners
VenueBeijing National Aquatics Center
DatesAugust 9 (heats)
August 10 (final)
Competitors29 from 22 nations
Winning time4:03.84 WR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Michael Phelps  United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) László Cseh  Hungary
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Ryan Lochte  United States
← 2004
2012 →
Swimming at the
2008 Summer Olympics
Sample picture of the event (unofficial)
Qualification
Freestyle
50 mmenwomen
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
400 mmenwomen
800 mwomen
1500 mmen
Backstroke
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
Breaststroke
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
Butterfly
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
Individual medley
200 mmenwomen
400 mmenwomen
Freestyle relay
4 × 100 mmenwomen
4 × 200 mmenwomen
Medley relay
4 × 100 mmenwomen
Marathon
10 kmmenwomen

The men's 400 metre individual medley event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 9–10 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.[1]

U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps blasted a new world record to defend his title in the event, and more importantly, claim his first Olympic gold, seventh career, and ninth overall. Phelps expected to get a major challenge from teammate Ryan Lochte, but he pulled away from the field on the breaststroke leg, and then opened up his lead on the freestyle leg to a strong finish in 4:03.84, more than a second faster than his world record from the U.S. Olympic Trials.[2][3] Hungary's László Cseh earned his first ever Olympic silver medal at these Games, in a European record of 4:06.16. Lochte, who fought off a challenge against Phelps, faded towards the end of the race with a bronze in 4:08.09.[4]

Italian tandem Alessio Boggiatto (4:12.16) and Luca Marin (4:12.47) earned fourth and fifth spots with only 0.31 seconds apart from each other. Hungary's Gergő Kis (4:12.84), Canada's Brian Johns (4:13.38), and Brazil's Thiago Pereira (4:15.40) rounded out the finale.[4]

Records

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

World record  Michael Phelps (USA) 4:05.25 Omaha, United States 29 June 2008 [5]
Olympic record  Michael Phelps (USA) 4:08.26 Athens, Greece 14 August 2004 —

The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.

Date Event Name Nationality Time Record
August 9 Heat 4 Michael Phelps  United States 4:07.82 OR
August 10 Final Michael Phelps  United States 4:03.84 WR

Results

Heats

Rank Heat Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 4 4 Michael Phelps  United States 4:07.82 Q, OR
2 2 4 László Cseh  Hungary 4:09.26 Q
3 4 5 Luca Marin  Italy 4:10.22 Q
4 3 4 Ryan Lochte  United States 4:10.33 Q
5 4 3 Gergő Kis  Hungary 4:10.66 Q
6 2 3 Alessio Boggiatto  Italy 4:10.68 Q
7 3 7 Brian Johns  Canada 4:11.41 Q, NR
8 3 5 Thiago Pereira  Brazil 4:11.74 Q
9 4 2 Keith Beavers  Canada 4:12.75
10 2 1 Bradley Ally  Barbados 4:14.01 NR
11 2 8 Gal Nevo  Israel 4:14.03 NR
12 3 3 Riaan Schoeman  South Africa 4:14.09
13 3 1 Andrey Krylov  Russia 4:14.55
14 4 6 Travis Nederpelt  Australia 4:15.37
15 2 2 Dinko Jukić  Austria 4:15.48 NR
16 2 7 Alexander Tikhonov  Russia 4:16.49
17 2 5 Thomas Haffield  Great Britain 4:16.76
18 2 6 Vasileios Demetis  Greece 4:18.40
19 3 6 Euan Dale  Great Britain 4:18.60
20 4 8 Vadym Lepskyy  Ukraine 4:20.96
21 3 8 Omar Pinzón  Colombia 4:22.31
22 4 7 Pierre Henri  France 4:22.41
23 1 4 Nikša Roki  Croatia 4:22.44
24 3 2 Javier Núñez  Spain 4:22.69
25 4 1 Romanos Alyfantis  Greece 4:23.41
26 1 6 Dmitriy Gordiyenko  Kazakhstan 4:25.20
27 1 2 Vasilii Danilov  Kyrgyzstan 4:29.20
28 1 3 Deniz Nazar  Turkey 4:30.80
29 1 5 Hocine Haciane  Andorra 4:32.00

Final

Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) 4 Michael Phelps  United States 4:03.84 WR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) 5 László Cseh  Hungary 4:06.16 EU
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 6 Ryan Lochte  United States 4:08.09
4 7 Alessio Boggiatto  Italy 4:12.16
5 3 Luca Marin  Italy 4:12.47
6 2 Gergő Kis  Hungary 4:12.84
7 1 Brian Johns  Canada 4:13.38
8 8 Thiago Pereira  Brazil 4:15.40

References

  1. ^ "Olympic Swimming Schedule". USA Today. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  2. ^ Newberry, Paul (10 August 2008). "Michael Phelps sets world record in 400 IM, 1 gold down, 7 to go". New York Times. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
  3. ^ "Opening statement: Phelps grabs gold, WR in 400 IM". ESPN. 10 August 2008. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
  4. ^ a b Lohn, John (10 August 2008). "Michael Phelps Smashes World Record in 400 IM". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
  5. ^ Crouse, Karen (30 June 2008). "Rival's fast finish propels Phelps to another record". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 August 2008.