Women's 4 × 100 metre medley relay at the Games of the XXXI Olympiad | ||||||||||
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Venue | Olympic Aquatics Stadium | |||||||||
Dates | 12 August 2016 (heats) 13 August 2016 (final) | |||||||||
Competitors | 76 from 16 nations | |||||||||
Teams | 16 | |||||||||
Winning time | 3:53.13 | |||||||||
Medalists | ||||||||||
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Swimming at the 2016 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 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. [1]
The U.S. women's team outlasted the rest of the field to solidify its Olympic title defense in the medley relay final with the help of a freestyle anchor leg from Simone Manuel. Leading from the start, the foursome of Kathleen Baker (59.00), Lilly King (1:05.70), Dana Vollmer (56.00), and Manuel (52.43) put together a perfect ending with a final time of 3:53.13 to give the Americans their tenth gold medal in this event, and their thousandth overall in Summer Olympic history. [2] [3]
Australia's Emily Seebohm (58.83), Taylor McKeown (1:07.05), and Emma McKeon (56.95) struggled to hold on their momentum throughout the race, until Cate Campbell jumped into the pool at the final exchange. Then, Campbell produced a freestyle anchor split of 52.17 to deliver the Australian relay team a silver medal in 3:55.00. [4] After winning the 50 m freestyle title an hour earlier, anchor Pernille Blume (53.21) helped her fellow Danish swimmers Mie Nielsen (58.75), Rikke Møller Pedersen (1:06.62), and Jeanette Ottesen (56.43) shatter the European record for the bronze in 3:55.01, a hundredth of a second behind Australia. [5] [6]
China's Fu Yuanhui (59.53), Shi Jinglin (1:06.00), Lu Ying (56.49), and Zhu Menghui (53.16) slipped off the podium to fourth in 3:55.18, while the Canadian combination of Kylie Masse (58.77), Rachel Nicol (1:06.81), Penny Oleksiak (56.75), and Chantal van Landeghem (53.16) established a national record of 3:55.49 to take the fifth spot. [7] Russia's Anastasia Fesikova (59.49), Yuliya Yefimova (1:04.98), Svetlana Chimrova (57.54), and Veronika Popova (53.65) finished sixth with a 3:55.66, holding off the British quartet of Georgia Davies (59.43), Chloe Tutton (1:06.43), Siobhan-Marie O’Connor (57.47), and Francesca Halsall (53.63) by 1.3 seconds, a seventh-place time in 3:56.96. [8] Meanwhile, Italy (3:59.50), anchored by freestyle swimmer and four-time Olympian Federica Pellegrini, rounded out the championship field. [6]
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
World record | United States (USA) Missy Franklin (58.50) Rebecca Soni (1:04.82) Dana Vollmer (55.48) Allison Schmitt (53.25) | 3:52.05 | London, United Kingdom | 4 August 2012 | [9] [10] |
Olympic record | United States (USA) Missy Franklin (58.50) Rebecca Soni (1:04.82) Dana Vollmer (55.48) Allison Schmitt (53.25) | 3:52.05 | London, United Kingdom | 4 August 2012 | [9] [10] |
The competition consisted of two rounds: heats and a final. The relay teams with the best 8 times in the heats advanced to the final. Swim-offs were used as necessary to break ties for advancement to the next round. [1]
A total of sixteen countries have qualified to participate. The best eight from two heats advanced to the final.
Rank | Lane | Nation | Swimmers | Time | Notes |
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4 | United States | Kathleen Baker (59.00) Lilly King (1:05.70) Dana Vollmer (56.00) Simone Manuel (52.43) | 3:53.13 | ||
2 | Australia | Emily Seebohm (58.83) Taylor McKeown (1:07.05) Emma McKeon (56.95) Cate Campbell (52.17) | 3:55.00 | ||
3 | Denmark | Mie Nielsen (58.75) Rikke Møller Pedersen (1:06.62) Jeanette Ottesen (56.43) Pernille Blume (53.21) | 3:55.01 | EU | |
4 | 7 | China | Fu Yuanhui (59.53) Shi Jinglin (1:06.00) Lu Ying (56.49) Zhu Menghui (53.16) | 3:55.18 | |
5 | 5 | Canada | Kylie Masse (58.77) Rachel Nicol (1:06.81) Penny Oleksiak (56.75) Chantal van Landeghem (53.16) | 3:55.49 | NR |
6 | 6 | Russia | Anastasia Fesikova (59.49) Yulia Efimova (1:04.98) Svetlana Chimrova (57.54) Veronika Popova (53.65) | 3:55.66 | NR |
7 | 8 | Great Britain | Georgia Davies (59.43) Chloe Tutton (1:06.43) Siobhan-Marie O’Connor (57.47) Francesca Halsall (53.63) | 3:56.96 | NR |
8 | 1 | Italy | Carlotta Zofkova (1:01.29) Arianna Castiglioni (1:06.65) Ilaria Bianchi (58.21) Federica Pellegrini (53.35) | 3:59.50 |
Federica Pellegrini is an Italian retired swimmer. A native of Mirano, in the province of Venice, she holds the women's 200 meters freestyle world record, and won a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. At the 2009 World Championships in Rome, Pellegrini became the first woman ever to break the 4-minute barrier in the 400 m freestyle with a time of 3:59.15.
Natalie Anne Coughlin Hall is an American former competition swimmer and twelve-time Olympic medalist. While attending the University of California, Berkeley, she became the first woman ever to swim the 100-meter backstroke in less than one minute—ten days before her 20th birthday in 2002. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, she became the first U.S. female athlete in modern Olympic history to win six medals in one Olympiad, and the first woman ever to win a 100-meter backstroke gold in two consecutive Olympics. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she earned a bronze medal in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay.
Dana Whitney Vollmer is an former American competition swimmer, five-time Olympic gold medalist, and former world record-holder. At the 2004 Summer Olympics, she won a gold medal as a member of the winning United States team in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay that set the world record in the event. Eight years later at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Vollmer set the world record on her way to the gold medal in the 100-meter butterfly, and also won golds in the 4×100-meter medley relay and 4×200-meter freestyle relay. She won three medals including a gold at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Sarah Fredrika Sjöström is a Swedish competitive swimmer specialising in the sprint freestyle and butterfly events. She is the current world record holder in the 50-meter freestyle, the 100-meter freestyle, the 50-meter butterfly, the 100-meter butterfly, and the 4×50-meter medley relay. She is a former world record holder in the 50-meter freestyle, 100-meter freestyle, 100-meter butterfly, and 200-meter freestyle. She is the first Swedish woman to win an Olympic gold medal in swimming. She won the Overall Swimming World Cup in 2017 and 2018. In 2022, she became the first swimmer representing a country from Europe to win 10 individual World Championships gold medals. She currently represents Energy Standard in the International Swimming League.
Melissa Franklin Johnson is an American former competition swimmer and five-time Olympic gold medalist. She formerly held the world record in the 200-meter backstroke. As a member of the U.S. national swim team, she also held the world records in the 4×100-meter medley relay.
Kathleen Genevieve Ledecky is an American competitive swimmer. She has won seven Olympic gold medals and 19 world championship gold medals, the most in history for a female swimmer. Ledecky's six individual gold medals at the Olympics, 14 individual gold medals at the World Aquatics Championships, and 22 overall medals at the World Aquatics Championships are records in women's swimming. Ledecky is the world record holder in the women's 800- and 1500-meter freestyle as well as the former world record holder in the women's 400-meter freestyle. She also holds the fastest-ever times in the women's 500-, 1000-, and 1650-yard freestyle events. She is widely regarded as one of the greatest Olympians and the greatest female swimmer of all time.
Pernille Blume is a Danish swimmer specializing in sprint freestyle events. She competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics. At the 2016 Summer Olympics she was the gold medalist in the women's 50 metre freestyle and won a bronze medal in the women's 4 × 100 metre medley relay where she swam the freestyle leg of the relay in both the prelims and the final. She also competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics, winning a bronze medal in the 50 metre freestyle.
Olivia Smoliga is an American competitive swimmer who specializes in backstroke and freestyle events. She won a record eight gold medals at the 2018 World Championships, becoming the first swimmer, male or female, to win eight or more gold medals in a single FINA World Swimming Championships or FINA World Aquatics Championships. Smoliga is the current American record-holder in the 50-meter backstroke. She is also the current Guinness World Record holder for "most gold medals won at a single FINA World Championships" by an individual swimmer. At the 2016 Summer Olympics held in Rio de Janeiro, she won a gold medal for swimming the backstroke leg in the preliminary heat of the 4x100-meter medley relay.
Simone Ashley Manuel is an American professional swimmer specializing in freestyle events. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, she won two gold and two silver medals: gold in the 100-meter freestyle and the 4x100-meter medley, and silver in the 50-meter freestyle and the 4×100-meter freestyle relay. In winning the 100-meter freestyle, a tie with Penny Oleksiak of Canada, Manuel became the first Black American woman to win an individual Olympic gold in swimming and set an Olympic record and an American record. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, she won a bronze medal as the anchor of the American 4×100-meter freestyle relay team.
Shen Duo is a Chinese competitive swimmer who specializes in sprint freestyle events. Considered one of the most promising swimmers in the international scene, she currently holds three world junior records each in the 100 m freestyle, the 400 m medley relay, and the mixed 400 m freestyle relay, and also pocketed a total of nine gold medals to her career hardware in two major meets at the peak of 2014 season.
Abbigail "Abbey" Weitzeil is an American competition swimmer specializing in sprint freestyle. A multiple time Olympic medalist, she won a gold medal in the 4x100-meter medley relay for swimming in the preliminary heats and a silver medal in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay at the 2016 Rio Olympics. At the 2020 Summer Olympics she won a silver medal in the 4x100-meter medley relay and a bronze medal in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay, swimming in the final of both events. She is the American record holder in the 50-yard freestyle and is part of the American Record in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay.
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 100 metre freestyle event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place between 10–11 August at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium.
The women's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place on 6 August at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium.
The women's 4 × 200-metre freestyle relay event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place on 10 August at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium.
Andrea "Andi" Murez, is an Israeli-American Olympic swimmer. She swam for Israel at the 2016 Summer Olympics. She will represent Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Penelope Oleksiak is a Canadian competitive swimmer. Her country's most decorated Olympian, Oleksiak rose to fame during the 2016 Summer Olympics, where she became the first Canadian to win four medals in the same Summer Games, and the country's youngest Olympic champion with her gold medal win in the 100 m freestyle. She was the first athlete born in the 2000s to claim an Olympic gold medal in an individual event. Her success led to her being awarded the 2016 Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada's top athlete, the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award as Canada's top female athlete for 2016, and a member of the Canadian Press team of the year. Five years later she won three additional medals at the 2020 Summer Olympics, breaking the national record for Olympic medals.
Kathleen Baker is an American competition swimmer who specializes in freestyle and backstroke events. At the 2016 Summer Olympics, she won a gold medal in the 4x100-meter medley relay and a silver medal in the individual 100-meter backstroke. She is the former world-record holder in 100 meter backstroke, set on July 28, 2018 in 58.00 at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center in Irvine, CA. Baker is also the former world-record holder in the 4x100 meter medley relay with Lilly King, Dana Vollmer, and Simone Manuel.
Victoria "Torri" Huske is an American swimmer. She is the current World Champion in the long-course meters (LCM) 100M butterfly. In addition, she is the current American record holder in both the 100-meter butterfly and the LC 50M butterfly. At the 2022 Fina World Swimming Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Huske, just 19, became one of only four American women in history to win six medals at a World Championships.
Natalie Hinds is an American professional swimmer specializing in freestyle and butterfly events. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, she won a bronze medal in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay, swimming in both the prelims and the final. She won a bronze medal in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay at the 2022 World Aquatics Championships, swimming the anchor leg of the relay in the prelims, and a gold medal in the 4×100-meter medley relay, swimming the butterfly leg of the relay in the preliminaries. At the 2022 US National Championships, she won the national title in the 100 meter freestyle.