Men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad | ||||||||||
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Venue | Beijing National Aquatics Center | |||||||||
Date | August 15, 2008 (heats) August 17, 2008 (final) | |||||||||
Competitors | 75 from 16 nations | |||||||||
Winning time | 3:29.34 WR | |||||||||
Medalists | ||||||||||
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Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics | ||
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Qualification | ||
Freestyle | ||
50 m | men | women |
100 m | men | women |
200 m | men | women |
400 m | men | women |
800 m | women | |
1500 m | men | |
Backstroke | ||
100 m | men | women |
200 m | men | women |
Breaststroke | ||
100 m | men | women |
200 m | men | women |
Butterfly | ||
100 m | men | women |
200 m | men | women |
Individual medley | ||
200 m | men | women |
400 m | men | women |
Freestyle relay | ||
4 × 100 m | men | women |
4 × 200 m | men | women |
Medley relay | ||
4 × 100 m | men | women |
Marathon | ||
10 km | men | women |
The men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 15 and 17 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China. [1]
Since the event's inception in 1960, the U.S. men's team dominated the race from the start to demolish a new world record, to defend their title, and most importantly, to wrap up the greatest performance in Olympic history for Michael Phelps. Joining Aaron Peirsol (53.16), Brendan Hansen (59.27), and Jason Lezak (46.76), Phelps delivered a butterfly split of 50.15 to maintain a leading pace and claim a historic gold for the Americans with a world-record time of 3:29.34, shaving 1.34 seconds off their standard from Athens in 2004. By capturing his eighth gold, Phelps also eclipsed Mark Spitz's 1972 record of seven for the most in a single Games, raising his career total to 16 medals (14 golds and 2 bronze). [2] [3] [4]
The Aussie foursome of Hayden Stoeckel (53.80), Brenton Rickard (58.56), Andrew Lauterstein (51.03), and Eamon Sullivan (46.65) trailed behind their greatest rivals in the pool by exactly seven-tenths of a second (0.70), but took home an admirable silver in an Oceanian record of 3:30.04. [5] Meanwhile, Japan's Kosuke Kitajima fueled the field on the breaststroke leg with a terrific split of 58.07 to deliver the foursome of Junichi Miyashita (53.87), Takuro Fujii (50.89), and Hisayoshi Sato (48.35) a bronze-medal time in 3:31.18, worthy enough for an Asian record. [6] [7]
Russia's Arkady Vyatchanin (53.36), Roman Sloudnov (59.45), Yevgeny Korotyshkin (51.62), and Yevgeny Lagunov (47.49) missed the podium by almost three-fourths of a second (0.75) with a fourth-place effort in 3:31.92, while Daniel Bell (54.52), Glenn Snyders (59.46), Corney Swanepoel (52.12), and Cameron Gibson (47.99) established a New Zealand record of 3:33.39 to claim the fifth spot in the final, holding off the British quartet of Liam Tancock (54.69), Chris Cook (59.65), Michael Rock (52.02), and Simon Burnett (47.33) by 0.30 seconds, a national record of 3:33.69. [8] [9] South Africa's Gerhard Zandberg (54.69), Cameron van der Burgh (59.40), Lyndon Ferns (51.39), and Darian Townsend (48.22) finished closer to the Brits by a hundredth of a second (0.01) with a seventh-place time of 3:33.70. As the entire field came to a dramatic finish in the pool, Italy was disqualified from the race because of an early relay takeoff on the final exchange by freestyle anchor Filippo Magnini. [7]
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
World record | United States (USA) Aaron Peirsol (53.45) Brendan Hansen (59.37) Ian Crocker (50.28) Jason Lezak (47.58) | 3:30.68 | Athens, Greece | 21 August 2004 | [10] |
Olympic record | United States (USA) Aaron Peirsol (53.45) Brendan Hansen (59.37) Ian Crocker (50.28) Jason Lezak (47.58) | 3:30.68 | Athens, Greece | 21 August 2004 | [10] |
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
August 17 | Final | Aaron Peirsol (53.16) Brendan Hansen (59.27) Michael Phelps (50.15) Jason Lezak (46.76) | United States | 3:29.34 | WR |
Rank | Lane | Nationality | Name | Time | Time behind | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
4 | United States | Aaron Peirsol (53.16) Brendan Hansen (59.27) Michael Phelps (50.15) Jason Lezak (46.76) | 3:29.34 | WR | ||
5 | Australia | Hayden Stoeckel (53.80) Brenton Rickard (58.56) Andrew Lauterstein (51.03) Eamon Sullivan (46.65) | 3:30.04 | 0.70 | OC | |
3 | Japan | Junichi Miyashita (53.87) Kosuke Kitajima (58.07) Takuro Fujii (50.89) Hisayoshi Sato (48.35) | 3:31.18 | 1.84 | AS | |
4 | 6 | Russia | Arkady Vyatchanin (53.36) Roman Sloudnov (59.45) Yevgeny Korotyshkin (51.62) Yevgeny Lagunov (47.49) | 3:31.92 | 2.58 | EU |
5 | 7 | New Zealand | Daniel Bell (54.74) Glenn Snyders (59.87) Corney Swanepoel (51.78) Cameron Gibson (47.00) | 3:33.39 | 4.05 | NR |
6 | 2 | Great Britain | Liam Tancock (54.69) Chris Cook (59.65) Michael Rock (52.02) Simon Burnett (47.33) | 3:33.69 | 4.35 | NR |
7 | 1 | South Africa | Gerhard Zandberg (54.69) Cameron van der Burgh (59.40) Lyndon Ferns (51.39) Darian Townsend (48.22) | 3:33.70 | 4.36 | AF |
8 | Italy | Mirco di Tora (54.52) Loris Facci (1:00.55) Mattia Nalesso (52.26) Filippo Magnini | DSQ |
Mark Andrew Spitz is an American former competitive swimmer and nine-time Olympic champion. He was the most successful athlete at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, winning seven gold medals, each in world-record time. This achievement set a record that lasted for 36 years, until it was surpassed by fellow American Michael Phelps, who won eight golds at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, though Phelps, like Spitz, set seven world records.
The swimming competitions at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place from 9 to 17 August 2008 at the Beijing National Aquatics Centre. The newly introduced open water marathon events (10 km) were held on 20 and 21 August 2008 at Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park.
The men's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 10–11 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.
The men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 12–13 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.
The women's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 9–10 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.
The women's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 13–14 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.
The women's 4 × 100 metre medley relay event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 15 and 17 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.
The men's 200 metre freestyle event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 10–12 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China. There were 58 competitors from 50 nations. The winning margin was 1.89 seconds which as of 2023 remains the only time this race has been won by more than 1.8 seconds at the Olympics.
The men's 100 metre butterfly event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 14–16 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.
Michael Fred Phelps II is an American former competitive swimmer. He is the most successful and most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold medals (23), Olympic gold medals in individual events (13), and Olympic medals in individual events (16). At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Phelps tied the record of eight medals of any color at a single Games, held by gymnast Alexander Dityatin, by winning six gold and two bronze medals. Four years later, when he won eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games, he broke fellow American swimmer Mark Spitz's 1972 record of seven first-place finishes at any single Olympic Games. At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Phelps won four gold and two silver medals, and at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, he won five gold medals and one silver. This made him the most successful athlete of the Games for the fourth Olympics in a row.
The men's 100 metre butterfly event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 2–3 August at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom.
The men's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 29 July at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom.
The women's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 28 July at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom.
The men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 31 July at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom.
The men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 3–4 August at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom.
The women's 4 × 100 metre medley relay event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 3–4 August at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom.
The men's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place on 7 August at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium.
The men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place on 9 August at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium.
The men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro took place on 12–13 August at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium.
The women's 4 × 100 metre medley relay event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place on 12–13 August at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. By winning gold, the U.S. women brought home America's 1000th gold medal in the nation's Summer Olympics history.