| 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 | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics | ||
|---|---|---|
| | ||
| 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 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]
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record | 4:05.25 | Omaha, United States | 29 June 2008 | [5] | |
| Olympic record | 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 | 4:07.82 | OR | |
| August 10 | Final | Michael Phelps | 4:03.84 | WR |
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Michael Phelps | 4:03.84 | WR | ||
| 5 | László Cseh | 4:06.16 | EU | ||
| 6 | Ryan Lochte | 4:08.09 | |||
| 4 | 7 | Alessio Boggiatto | 4:12.16 | ||
| 5 | 3 | Luca Marin | 4:12.47 | ||
| 6 | 2 | Gergő Kis | 4:12.84 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Brian Johns | 4:13.38 | ||
| 8 | 8 | Thiago Pereira | 4:15.40 | ||