The men's 200 metre individual medley event at the 2004 Olympic Games was contested at the Olympic Aquatic Centre of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex in Athens, Greece on August 18 and 19.
László Cseh is a retired Hungarian competitive swimmer and six-time Olympic medalist. He is a 33-time European Champion. His father, László Cseh Sr., also represented Hungary at the Olympics in swimming. In 2020 Braden Keith of SwimSwam nominated him as number 1 within top 10 male swimmers who have never won Olympic gold.
Ryan Steven Lochte is an American competition swimmer and 12-time Olympic medalist. Along with Natalie Coughlin, Dara Torres, and Jenny Thompson, he is the second-most decorated swimmer in Olympic history measured by total number of medals, behind only Michael Phelps. Lochte's seven individual Olympic medals rank second in history in men's swimming, tied for second among all Olympic swimmers. He currently holds the world records in the 200-meter individual medley. As part of the American teams, he also holds the world record in the 4×200-meter freestyle and 4×100-meter freestyle (mixed) relay.
Nathan Ghar-jun Adrian is an American competitive swimmer and five-time Olympic gold medalist who formerly held the American record in the long course 50-meter freestyle event.
Eric Lee Shanteau is an American former competition swimmer who won two gold medals as a member of winning United States relay teams at the World Championships. He was a member of the 2008 and 2012 U.S. Olympic teams, and earned a gold medal as a member of the winning U.S. team in the 4×100-meter medley relay at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Shanteau formerly held the 4×100-meter medley relay world record as a member of the U.S. team that competed at the 2009 FINA World Championship in Rome.
The men's 200 metre individual medley event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 13–15 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.
The women'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.
Richard Berens is an American former competition swimmer, two-time Olympic gold medalist, world champion, and current world record-holder. As a member of the U.S. national team, he holds the world record in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay. He competed in the 4×100-meter and 4×200-meter freestyle relay events, as well as the individual 200-meter freestyle at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
David Walters, also known as Dave Walters, is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, and world record-holder in the 4x200 meter freestyler relay. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Walters earned a gold medal by swimming in the heats of the 4×200-meter freestyle relay. As part of the American team, he also formerly held the world record in the 4×100-meter medley relay. Walters is also a seven-time medalist at the World Aquatics Championships.
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.
Scott Tyler Clary is an American former competition swimmer and Olympic gold medalist. In his Olympic debut at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Clary won gold in the 200-meter backstroke in Olympic record time. In total, he won sixteen medals in major international competitions: three gold, eight silver, and five bronze spanning the Summer Olympics, the FINA World Championships, the Pan Pacific Championships, and the Pan American Games.
The men's 200 metre freestyle event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 29–30 July at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom. There were 40 competitors from 31 nations.
The men's 200 metre individual medley event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 1–2 August at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom.
The men's 400 metre individual medley event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 28 July at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom.
The women's 400 metre individual medley event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 28 July 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 400 metre individual medley event in swimming at the 2013 World Aquatics Championships took place on 4 August at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona, Spain.
The men's 200 metre individual medley event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place on 10–11 August at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium.
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 200 metre individual medley event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held from 28 to 30 July 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. It was the event's twelfth appearance, having been first held in 1968 and 1972 and then at every edition since 1984.
