Swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's 400 metre individual medley

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Women's 400 metre individual medley
at the Games of the XXX Olympiad
London 2012 Aquatics Centre March.jpg
A photograph of the Aquatics centre during the British Championships in March 2012.
Venue London Aquatics Centre
DateJuly 28, 2012 (heats & final)
Competitors36 from 29 nations
Winning time4:28.43 WR
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Ye Shiwen Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
Silver medal icon.svg Elizabeth Beisel Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Bronze medal icon.svg Li Xuanxu Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
  2008
2016  

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. [1]

At only 16 years of age, China's Ye Shiwen blasted a new world record to capture the Olympic title in the event. She trailed behind American teenager Elizabeth Beisel more than halfway through the race, before pulling away with a superb freestyle leg to bring home the Olympic gold medal and the world record in a sterling time of 4:28.43. Her spectacular swim also demolished the previous standard from Australia's Stephanie Rice in Beijing four years earlier by more than a second. [2] [3] Meanwhile, Beisel enjoyed the race with a powerful lead on the breaststroke leg, but felt satisfied to claim the silver in 4:31.27. [4] [5] Ye's teammate Li Xuanxu stormed home on the final stretch to grab a bronze in 4:32.91, edging out Hungary's early leader Katinka Hosszú (4:33.49) by more than half a second (0.50). [6]

Great Britain's home favorite Hannah Miley finished fifth in 4:34.17, while Rice, the defending Olympic champion, matched United States' Caitlin Leverenz with an unexpected sixth-place time in 4:35.49. [7] [8] Spain's Mireia Belmonte García rounded out the final roster in 4:35.62. [6]

Records

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

World recordFlag of Australia (converted).svg  Stephanie Rice  (AUS)4:29.45 Beijing, China 10 August 2008 [9] [10]
Olympic recordFlag of Australia.svg  Stephanie Rice  (AUS)4:29.45 Beijing, China 10 August 2008

The following records were established during the competition:

DateRoundNameNationalityTimeRecord
July 28Final Ye Shiwen Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 4:28.43 WR

Results

Heats

[11]

RankHeatLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
154 Elizabeth Beisel Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4:31.68Q
235 Ye Shiwen Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 4:31.73Q
334 Katinka Hosszú Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 4:33.77Q
455 Li Xuanxu Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 4:34.28Q
553 Mireia Belmonte García Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 4:34.70Q
644 Hannah Miley Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 4:34.98Q
745 Stephanie Rice Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 4:35.76Q
843 Caitlin Leverenz Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4:36.09Q
933 Zsuzsanna Jakabos Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 4:37.37
1051 Anja Klinar Flag of Slovenia.svg  Slovenia 4:38.20
1152 Aimee Willmott Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 4:38.87
1246 Miyu Otsuka Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 4:39.13
1356 Blair Evans Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 4:40.42
1447 Stina Gardell Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 4:41.33
1536 Barbora Zavádová Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic 4:41.84
1642 Kathryn Meaklim Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa 4:43.46
1725 Kim Seo-yeong Flag of South Korea.svg  South Korea 4:43.99
1857 Lara Grangeon Flag of France.svg  France 4:44.28
1938 Natalie Wiegersma Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 4:44.78
2032 Miho Takahashi Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 4:45.10
2124 Stephanie Horner Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 4:45.49
2241 Stefania Pirozzi Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 4:45.61
2348 Jördis Steinegger Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 4:45.80
2437 Yana Martynova Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 4:45.94
2531 Claudia Dasca Romeu Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 4:46.80
2627 Ganna Dzerkal Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine 4:48.19
2726 Andreina Pinto Flag of Venezuela.svg  Venezuela 4:48.64
2813 Nguyễn Thị Ánh Viên Flag of Vietnam.svg  Vietnam 4:50.32
2914 Susana Escobar Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 4:50.57
3028 Sara Nordenstam Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 4:51.28
3121 Karolina Szczepaniak Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 4:52.50
3222 Sara El Bekri Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco 4:53.21
3315 Noora Laukkanen Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 4:53.54
3423 Georgina Bardach Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina 4:57.31
3516 Anum Bandey Flag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan 5:34.64 NR
58 Joanna Melo Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil DNS

Final

RankLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
Gold medal icon.svg5 Ye Shiwen Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 4:28.43 WR
Silver medal icon.svg4 Elizabeth Beisel Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4:31.27
Bronze medal icon.svg6 Li Xuanxu Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 4:32.91
43 Katinka Hosszú Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 4:33.49
57 Hannah Miley Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 4:34.17
61 Stephanie Rice Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 4:35.49
8 Caitlin Leverenz Flag of the United States.svg  United States
82 Mireia Belmonte García Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 4:35.62

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