Swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's 400 metre freestyle

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Women's 400 metre freestyle
at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad
Venue Tokyo Aquatics Centre
Dates25 July 2021 (heats)
26 July 2021 (final)
Competitors26 from 19 nations
Winning time3:56.69
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Ariarne Titmus Flag of Australia.svg  Australia
Silver medal icon.svg Katie Ledecky Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Bronze medal icon.svg Li Bingjie Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
  2016
2024  

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. [1] It was the event's twenty-third consecutive appearance, having been held at every edition since 1924.

Summary

In one of the most anticipated races at these Games, Australia's Ariarne Titmus came from behind to hand the U.S.' defending Olympic champion Katie Ledecky her first-ever individual Olympic loss and become the first Australian to win the event since Shane Gould in 1972. Trailing Ledecky by nearly a body length at the halfway mark, Titmus launched a blistering final hundred to win the gold in 3:56.69, registering the second fastest time in history. While Ledecky took the early lead, she was unable to overtake Titmus in the final lap, settling for the silver in 3:57.36.

Meanwhile, China's Li Bingjie reset her Asian Record for the second time in as many days to take the bronze nearly four seconds back in 4:01.08. Whilst Canada's Summer McIntosh was third at the final turn, she faded down the stretch to finish fourth in a Canadian Record of 4:02.42. China's Tang Muhan (4:04.10), Germany's Isabel Gose (4:04.98), the U.S. Paige Madden (4:06.81) and New Zealand's Erika Fairweather (4:08:81) rounded out the championship field, with all four swimmers slower than their preliminary times.

The medals for competition were presented by John Coates, IOC Vice-President, and the gifts were presented by Penny Heyns, FINA Bureau Member.

Records

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

World recordFlag of the United States.svg  Katie Ledecky  (USA)3:56.46 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 7 August 2016 [2] [3]
Olympic recordFlag of the United States.svg  Katie Ledecky  (USA)3:56.46 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 7 August 2016 [2] [3]

No new records were set during the competition.

Qualification

The Olympic Qualifying Time for the event was 4:07.90. Up to two swimmers per National Olympic Committee (NOC) could automatically qualify by swimming that time at an approved qualification event. The Olympic Selection Time was 4:15.34. Up to one swimmer per NOC meeting that time was eligible for selection, allocated by world ranking until the maximum quota for all swimming events was reached. NOCs without a female swimmer qualified in any event could also use their universality place. [4]

Competition format

The competition consisted of two rounds: heats and a final. The swimmers with the best 8 times in the heats advanced to the final. Swim-offs were to be used as necessary to break ties for advancement to the next round. [5]

Schedule

All times are Japan standard time (UTC+9) [1]

DateTimeRound
Sunday, 25 July 202120:06Heats
Monday, 26 July 202111:20Final

Results

Heats

The swimmers with the top 8 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the final. [6]

RankHeatLaneSwimmerNationTimeNotes
134 Katie Ledecky Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4:00.45Q
235 Li Bingjie Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 4:01.57Q, AS
344 Ariarne Titmus Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 4:01.66Q
448 Erika Fairweather Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 4:02.28Q, NR
536 Summer McIntosh Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 4:02.72Q, NR
632 Isabel Gose Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 4:03.21Q, NR
746 Paige Madden Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4:03.98Q
842 Tang Muhan Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 4:04.07Q
943 Tamsin Cook Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 4:04.80
1045 Ajna Késely Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 4:05.34
1141 Waka Kobori Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 4:05.57
1223 Julia Hassler Flag of Liechtenstein.svg  Liechtenstein 4:06.98 NR
1325 Joanna Evans Flag of the Bahamas.svg  Bahamas 4:07.50
1437 Anastasiya Kirpichnikova Russian Olympic Committee flag.png  ROC 4:08.01
1533 Anna Egorova Russian Olympic Committee flag.png  ROC 4:08.24
1638 Beril Böcekler Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey 4:08.27
1726 Marlene Kahler Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 4:08.37 NR
1847 Leonie Kullmann Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 4:10.25
1924 Merve Tuncel Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey 4:11.06
2031 Miyu Namba Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 4:13.49
2122 Han Da-kyung Flag of South Korea.svg  South Korea 4:16.49
2227 Sasha Gatt Flag of Malta.svg  Malta 4:19.75
2321 Tiana Rabarijaona Flag of Madagascar.svg  Madagascar 4:28.41
2414 Eda Zeqiri Flag of Kosovo.svg  Kosovo 4:38.02
2515 Talita Te Flan Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg  Ivory Coast 4:38.92
2613 Natalia Kuipers Flag of the United States Virgin Islands.svg  Virgin Islands 4:39.42

Final

[7]

RankLaneSwimmerNationTimeNotes
Gold medal icon.svg3 Ariarne Titmus Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 3:56.69 OC
Silver medal icon.svg4 Katie Ledecky Flag of the United States.svg  United States 3:57.36
Bronze medal icon.svg5 Li Bingjie Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 4:01.08 AS
42 Summer McIntosh Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 4:02.42 NR
58 Tang Muhan Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 4:04.10
67 Isabel Gose Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 4:04.98
71 Paige Madden Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4:06.81
86 Erika Fairweather Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 4:08.01

References

  1. 1 2 "Tokyo 2020: Swimming Schedule". Tokyo 2020 . Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  2. 1 2 "Katie Ledecky Smashes 400 Free World Record; Earns First Gold Medal For USA". Swimming World Magazine. 8 August 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  3. 1 2 Johnson, Raphielle (8 August 2016). "Katie Ledecky wins 400 free, shatters WR; Smith third". NBC Olympics . Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  4. "Tokyo 2020 – FINA Swimming Qualification System" (PDF). Tokyo 2020 . FINA . Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  5. "FINA Swimming Rulebook, 2017–21" (PDF). FINA. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  6. "Heats results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 August 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  7. "Final results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 August 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2021.