Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metre individual medley
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]
| Men's 400 metre individual medley at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Medal winners | |||||||||||||
| Venue | Beijing National Aquatics Center | ||||||||||||
| Dates | August 9 (heats) August 10 (final) | ||||||||||||
| Competitors | 29 from 22 nations | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 4:03.84 WR | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
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
editPrior 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
editHeats
edit| 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
edit| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 4 | Michael Phelps | United States | 4:03.84 | WR |
 | 5 | László Cseh | Hungary | 4:06.16 | EU |
 | 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
edit- ^ "Olympic Swimming Schedule". USA Today. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Opening statement: Phelps grabs gold, WR in 400 IM". ESPN. 10 August 2008. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Crouse, Karen (30 June 2008). "Rival's fast finish propels Phelps to another record". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 August 2008.