Men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay at the Games of the XXX Olympiad | ||||||||||
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Venue | London Aquatics Centre | |||||||||
Dates | August 3, 2012 (heats) August 4, 2012 (final) | |||||||||
Competitors | 84 from 16 nations | |||||||||
Winning time | 3:29.35 | |||||||||
Medalists | ||||||||||
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Swimming at the 2012 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 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 3–4 August at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom. [1]
In the final race of his unprecedented career before a temporary retirement, Michael Phelps topped off with his eighteenth gold and twenty-second overall to officially become the most decorated Olympian of all time, as the U.S. men's team posted a textile best to defend the Olympic medley relay title since the event's inception in 1960. Trading the lead with Japan throughout the race, the solid foursome of Matt Grevers (52.58), Brendan Hansen (59.19), Phelps (50.73), and Nathan Adrian (46.85) put together a historic ending with a blazing fast finish in 3:29.35, just a fingertip short of their 2008 Olympic record during the high-tech bodysuit era. [2] [3] [4]
Japan's Ryosuke Irie (52.92), Kosuke Kitajima (58.64), Takeshi Matsuda (51.20), and Takuro Fujii (48.50) held on an arduous challenge with the Americans throughout the race before Adrian pulled off a lead in the freestyle leg, leaving them with a silver in 3:31.26. [5] [6] Meanwhile, James Magnussen produced a magnificent freestyle anchor of 47.22 to deliver the Aussie foursome of Hayden Stoeckel (53.71), Christian Sprenger (59.05), and Matt Targett (51.60) a bronze-medal time in 3:31.58. [7] [8] [9]
Great Britain's Liam Tancock (53.40), Michael Jamieson (59.27), Michael Rock (51.74), and Adam Brown (47.91) missed the podium by almost three quarters of a second (0.75) with a fourth-place effort in 3:32.32. [10] Meanwhile, Hungary's László Cseh (53.40, a national-record split), Dániel Gyurta (59.01), Bence Pulai (51.82), and Dominik Kozma (48.79) claimed a fifth spot in 3:33.02 to hold off the agile German foursome of Helge Meeuw (53.78), Christian vom Lehn (1:00.30), and Deibler brothers Steffen (50.91) and Markus (48.07) by four-hundredths of a second, a sixth-place time in 3:33.06. [9] Netherlands (3:33.46) and Canada (3:34.19), anchored by freestyle swimmer and bronze medalist Brent Hayden, rounded out a historic championship finale. [9]
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
World record | United States (USA) Aaron Peirsol (52.19) Eric Shanteau (58.57) Michael Phelps (49.72) David Walters (46.80) | 3:27.28 | Rome, Italy | 2 August 2009 | [11] [12] |
Olympic record | United States (USA) Aaron Peirsol (53.16) Brendan Hansen (59.27) Michael Phelps (50.15) Jason Lezak (46.76) | 3:29.34 | Beijing, China | 17 August 2008 | [13] |
Rank | Lane | Nation | Swimmers | Time | Time Behind | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
4 | United States | Matt Grevers (52.58) Brendan Hansen (59.19) Michael Phelps (50.73) Nathan Adrian (46.85) | 3:29.35 | |||
3 | Japan | Ryosuke Irie (52.92) Kosuke Kitajima (58.64) Takeshi Matsuda (51.20) Takuro Fujii (48.50) | 3:31.26 | 1.91 | ||
6 | Australia | Hayden Stoeckel (53.71) Christian Sprenger (59.05) Matt Targett (51.60) James Magnussen (47.22) | 3:31.58 | 2.23 | ||
4 | 5 | Great Britain | Liam Tancock (53.40) Michael Jamieson (59.27) Michael Rock (51.74) Adam Brown (47.91) | 3:32.32 | 2.97 | |
5 | 1 | Hungary | László Cseh (53.40) NR Dániel Gyurta (59.01) Bence Pulai (51.82) Dominik Kozma (48.79) | 3:33.02 | 3.67 | NR |
6 | 7 | Germany | Helge Meeuw (53.78) Christian vom Lehn (1:00.30) Steffen Deibler (50.91) Markus Deibler (48.07) | 3:33.06 | 3.71 | |
7 | 2 | Netherlands | Nick Driebergen (53.79) Lennart Stekelenburg (1:00.24) Joeri Verlinden (51.86) Sebastiaan Verschuren (47.57) | 3:33.46 | 4.11 | NR |
8 | 8 | Canada | Charles Francis (54.16) Scott Dickens (1:00.29) Joe Bartoch (52.32) Brent Hayden (47.42) | 3:34.19 | 4.84 |
Jason Edward Lezak is an American former competitive swimmer and swimming executive. As a swimmer, Lezak specialized in the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle races. His pro career lasted for nearly fifteen years, spanning four Olympic games and eight Olympic medals.
Ryan Steven Lochte is an American professional 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.
Cullen Andrew Jones is an American former competition swimmer and Olympic gold medalist who specializes in freestyle sprint events. As part of the American team, he holds the world record in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he won silver medals in the 4 x 100-meter freestyle relay and the 50-meter freestyle, as well as the gold in the 4 x 100-metre medley.
Thiago Machado Vilela Pereira is a retired Brazilian international competition swimmer. One of the greatest swimmers in the history of Brazil, Pereira won the silver medal in the 400-meter individual medley at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, beating the then-current Olympic champion Michael Phelps. He also broke a world record in the short course 200-meter individual medley, and broke several South American and Brazilian records. During his career, he competed with swimming legends Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte.
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.
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.
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.
Matthew Grevers is an American competition swimmer who competes in the backstroke and freestyle events, and is a six-time Olympic medalist. He has won a total of thirty-three medals in major international competition, fourteen gold, twelve silver, and seven bronze spanning the Olympics, World Championships, and the Universiade. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Grevers won gold medals as a member of the U.S. teams in the 4×100-meter freestyle and 4×100-meter medley relays, and a silver medal in the 100-meter backstroke. Four years later, at the 2012 Summer Olympics, he won gold medals in the 100-meter backstroke and the 4×100-meter medley relay, and a silver medal in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay.
Allison Rodgers Schmitt is an American competition swimmer who specializes in freestyle events. She is a four-time Olympian and a ten-time Olympic medalist.
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 swimming competitions at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London took place from 28 July to 4 August at the Aquatics Centre. The open-water competition took place from 9 to 10 August in Hyde Park.
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 women's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 1 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.
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