Men's 400 metre freestyle at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad | |||||||||||||
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Venue | Tokyo Aquatics Centre | ||||||||||||
Dates | 24 July 2021 (heats) 25 July 2021 (final) | ||||||||||||
Competitors | 36 from 31 nations | ||||||||||||
Winning time | 3:43.36 | ||||||||||||
Medalists | |||||||||||||
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Swimming at the 2020 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 | men | women | |
1500 m | men | women | |
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 | mixed | women |
Marathon | |||
10 km | men | women | |
The men's 400 metre freestyle event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held in 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. [1] It was the event's twenty-seventh consecutive appearance, having been held at every edition since 1904.
In one of the most stunning upsets in Olympic swimming history, Tunisia's Ahmed Hafnaoui became the lowest-seeded swimmer to win gold since 2004, when Kirsty Coventry won the 200 backstroke as the 21st seed. [2] Entered into the meet ranked 16th with a month-old personal best time of 3:46.16, Hafnaoui dropped almost half a second to qualify for the final in 8th place by just 0.14 s. The youngest swimmer in the final field, the 18 year old Tunisian was third at the 100 m mark, before moving up to second by the 150. Though he was 0.31 seconds behind Australia's Jack McLoughlin at the final turn, Hafnaoui used a blistering final lap to overtake him, recording a winning time of 3:43.36 - nearly three seconds faster than his entry time. By winning the title, Hafnaoui became the first African Olympic champion in this event and the second Tunisian swimmer to win gold, emulating the feats of his idol Oussama Mellouli.
Meanwhile McLoughlin, swimming out in lane 2, moved to the lead at the halfway mark before maintaining his position until the final turn. However, he could not fend off the late charge from Hafnaoui, settling for silver in 3:43.52. Swimming alongside Hafnaoui, the U.S.' Kieran Smith unleashed the second fastest closing split in the field to win the nation's first medal in this event since Peter Vanderkaay in 2012. While Austria's Felix Auboeck was third at the final turn, he narrowly missed the podium to place fourth in a tie with Germany Henning Mühlleitner who was the fastest finisher in the field.
The only defending medallist in the field, Italy's 2016 Bronze medallist Gabriele Detti was more than a second off his national record, clocking a 3:44.88 to take fifth. The only swimmer in the field to dip under the 3:43 barrier, Australia's pre-race favourite Elijah Winnington (3:45.20) shot out to an early lead before starting to fade at the halfway mark and eventually come seventh. The U.S.' Jake Mitchell, who qualified for the Olympics via a time trial, added 0.01 s from his preliminary time to place eighth.
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
World record | Paul Biedermann (GER) | 3:40.07 | Rome, Italy | 26 July 2009 | [3] |
Olympic record | Sun Yang (CHN) | 3:40.14 | London, Great Britain | 28 July 2012 | [4] |
No new records were set during the competition.
The Olympic Qualifying Time for the event is 3:46.78. Up to two swimmers per National Olympic Committee (NOC) can automatically qualify by swimming that time at an approved qualification event. The Olympic Selection Time is 3:53.58. Up to one swimmer per NOC meeting that time is eligible for selection, allocated by world ranking until the maximum quota for all swimming events is reached. NOCs without a male swimmer qualified in any event can also use their universality place. [5]
The competition consists of two rounds: heats and a final. The swimmers with the best 8 times in the heats advance to the final. Swim-offs are used as necessary to break ties for advancement to the next round. [6]
All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9) [1]
Date | Time | Round |
---|---|---|
24 July | 19:38 | Heats |
25 July | 10:52 | Final |
The swimmers with the top 8 times, regardless of heat, advance to the final. [7]
Rank | Lane | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
8 | Ahmed Hafnaoui | Tunisia | 3:43.36 | ||
2 | Jack McLoughlin | Australia | 3:43.52 | ||
7 | Kieran Smith | United States | 3:43.94 | ||
4 | 4 | Henning Mühlleitner | Germany | 3:44.07 | |
5 | Felix Auböck | Austria | 3:44.07 | ||
6 | 3 | Gabriele Detti | Italy | 3:44.88 | |
7 | 6 | Elijah Winnington | Australia | 3:45.20 | |
8 | 1 | Jake Mitchell | United States | 3:45.39 |
The men's 100 metre freestyle event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held from 27 to 29 July 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. There were approximately 60 competitors from approximately 45 nations, with the ultimate numbers determined through the ongoing selection process, including universality places.
The men's 200 metre freestyle event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held from 25 to 27 July 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. There were 39 competitors from 30 nations, with the ultimate numbers determined through the ongoing selection process, including universality places.
The men's 800 metre freestyle event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held on 27 and 29 July 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. It was the event's recurrence to the Games for the first time in over a century, having last been held in 1904.
The men's 1500 metre freestyle event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held on 30 July and 1 August 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. It will be the event's twenty-seventh consecutive appearance, having been held at every edition since 1904.
The women's 100 metre freestyle event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held from 28 to 30 July 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. It was the event's twenty-fifth consecutive appearance, having been held at every edition since 1912.
The women's 400 metre freestyle event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held from 25 to 26 July 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. It was the event's twenty-third consecutive appearance, having been held at every edition since 1924.
The women's 1500 metre freestyle event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held in 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. These Games marked the first time to feature women swimming in the pool longer than 800 metres.
The men's 200 metre backstroke event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held from 28 to 30 July 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. There will be approximately 30 competitors from approximately 20 nations, with the ultimate numbers determined through the ongoing selection process, including universality places.
The women's 100 metre backstroke event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held from 25 to 27 July 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. It was the event's twenty-third consecutive appearance, having been held at every edition since 1924. An unusual occurrence happened where the Olympic record for this event was broken three times in a single day and five times through the course of the entire competition.
The women's 200 metre backstroke event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held from 29 to 31 July 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. It was the event's fourteenth consecutive appearance, having been held at every edition since 1968.
The men's 100 metre breaststroke event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held from 24 to 26 July 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. It was the event's fourteenth consecutive appearance, having been held at every edition since 1968.
The men's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held from 27 to 29 July 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. It was the event's twenty-sixth consecutive appearance, having been held at every edition since 1908.
The women's 100 metre breaststroke event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held from 25 July to 27 July 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. It was the event's fourteenth consecutive appearance, having been held at every edition since 1968.
The women's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held from 28 to 30 July 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. It was the event's twenty-third consecutive appearance, having been held at every edition since 1924.
The men's 100 metre butterfly event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held from 29 to 31 July 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. It was the event's fourteenth consecutive appearance, having been held at every edition since 1968.
The women's 200 metre butterfly event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held from 27 to 29 July 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. It was the event's fourteenth consecutive appearance, having been held at every edition since 1968.
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.
The women's 200 metre individual medley event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held from 26 to 28 July 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. It will be the event's twelfth appearance, having been first held in 1968 and 1972 and then at every edition since 1984.
The women's 400 metre individual medley event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held on 24 and 25 July 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. It was the event's fifteenth consecutive appearance, having been held at every edition since 1964.
Ahmed Ayoub Hafnaoui is a Tunisian swimmer. He is the African record holder in the long course 400-metre and 1500-metre freestyle, and the short course 800-metre and 1500-metre freestyle events. He competed in the 2020 Summer Olympics, where he won a gold medal in the men's 400-metre freestyle. He ranked No. 16 in the world and was the slowest qualifier for the final race but won Olympic gold with a time of 3:43.36. Hafnaoui was the only Tunisian to win Olympic gold at Tokyo 2020.