The men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay event at the 2024 Summer Olympics was held on 30 July 2024 at Paris La Défense Arena, which was converted to a swimming pool for the swimming events.
Great Britain were considered the most likely to win the event, with the US, South Korea, Australia and China also likely to win medals. In the heats (preliminary rounds), all of those teams qualified, while Israel's quartet beat and lowered their country's national record.
In the final, Great Britain and the United States swam closely to each other for most of the race, and Great Britain won gold with a time of 6:59.43. The US finished second with 7:00.78 and Australia finished third with 7:01.98. The quartet's win made them the first British team to win a relay event at consecutive Olympics in swimming or athletics.
Background
Team Great Britain won the event at the previous Olympics, and the same four swimmers from the previous Olympics were returning to defend their title: Matt Richards, Duncan Scott, Tom Dean and James Guy.[1] The quartet also won the event at the 2023 World Championships,[2] and had the fastest sum of personal best splits at 6:58.06. The second fastest sum of personal bests belonged to the US, who added up to 6:58.66, and the third fastest sum belonged to South Korea, at 7:00.99.[3] Other medal contenders included Australia and China.[1]
Both SwimSwam and Swimming World predicted Great Britain would win and the US would come second. SwimSwam predicted South Korea would come third while Swimming World predicted Australia would take the bronze.[3][1]
The event was held at Paris La Défense Arena, which was converted to a swimming pool for the swimming events.[4]
Each National Olympic Committee could enter one team, and there were a total of sixteen qualifications places available. The first three qualifying places were taken by the podium finishers at the 2023 World Championships, and the final thirteen qualifying places were allocated to the fastest performances at the 2023 and 2024 World Championships.[5]
Heats
Two heats (preliminary rounds) took place on 30 July 2024, starting at 13:20.[a][6] The teams with the best eight times in the heats advanced to the final.[7] The US won the first heat with the second fastest qualifying time of 7:05.57, while Great Britain won the second heat with the fastest qualifying time of 7:05.11. France, Australia, Germany, China, South Korea, Japan and Israel also all qualified,[8] with Israel beating and lowering their national record to 7:08.43.[9]
The final took place at 22:15 on 30 July.[10] Great Britain and the United States swam closely to each other for most of the race, each switching between first and second. Great Britain led at all the exchanges,[11] and Duncan Scott swam the fastest individual portion of the race (1:43.95)[12] to win Great Britain the gold medal with a time of 6:59.43.[13] The US finished second with 7:00.78, Australia finished third with 7:01.98 and China finished fourth with 7:04.37.[14]
The quartet's win made them the first British team to win a relay event at consecutive Olympics in swimming or athletics.[15][16]
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