Swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metre individual medley

The men's 400 metre individual medley event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 28 July at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom.[1]

Men's 400 metre individual medley
at the Games of the XXX Olympiad
VenueLondon Aquatics Centre
DatesJuly 28, 2012 (heats & final)
Competitors37 from 29 nations
Winning time4:05.18
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Ryan Lochte  United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Thiago Pereira  Brazil
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Kosuke Hagino  Japan
← 2008
2016 →

U.S. Ryan Lochte pulled away from the rest of the field, including double defending champion Michael Phelps, over a wide margin to capture the Olympic title in the event. He rocketed to a strong finish in a sterling textile best of 4:05.18, the second fastest ever behind Phelps' 2008 world record by 1.34 seconds.[2][3] Meanwhile, Brazil's Thiago Pereira powered home with the silver in a matching South American record of 4:08.86, making him the first swimmer for his nation to claim an Olympic medal in the event, since Ricardo Prado did so in 1984.[4] Japanese teen Kosuke Hagino smashed an Asian record of 4:08.94 to edge Phelps out of the podium for the bronze.[5][6]

For the first time since his official debut in 2000, Phelps struggled to a fourth-place finish and denied his seventeenth career medal in 4:09.28. He almost missed the final roster by a small fraction of a second, after posting an eighth-seeded time of 4:13.33 from the morning prelims.[7][8]

South Africa's Chad le Clos (4:12.42), Hagino's teammate Yuya Horihata (4:13.30), Aussie swimmer Thomas Fraser-Holmes (4:13.49), and Italy's Luca Marin (4:14.89) rounded out the historic finale.[6] Surprisingly, Hungary's top medal favorite and European champion László Cseh missed the final by seven-hundredths of a second (0.07) with a ninth-place effort (4:13.40).[9]

Records edit

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

World record   Michael Phelps (USA) 4:03.84 Beijing, China 10 August 2008 [10][11]
Olympic record   Michael Phelps (USA) 4:03.84 Beijing, China 10 August 2008 [10][11]

Results edit

Heats edit

[12]

Rank Heat Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 3 4 Kosuke Hagino   Japan 4:10.01 Q, AS
2 5 2 Chad le Clos   South Africa 4:12.24 Q, NR
3 5 4 Ryan Lochte   United States 4:12.35 Q
4 3 6 Thiago Pereira   Brazil 4:12.39 Q
5 5 3 Thomas Fraser-Holmes   Australia 4:12.66 Q
6 5 6 Luca Marin   Italy 4:13.02 Q
7 5 5 Yuya Horihata   Japan 4:13.09 Q
8 4 4 Michael Phelps   United States 4:13.33 Q
9 4 5 László Cseh   Hungary 4:13.40
10 3 1 Gal Nevo   Israel 4:14.77
11 4 2 Yannick Lebherz   Germany 4:15.41
12 3 3 Yang Zhixian   China 4:15.45
13 4 6 Roberto Pavoni   Great Britain 4:15.56
14 4 3 Wang Chengxiang   China 4:15.57
15 4 1 Maksym Shemberev   Ukraine 4:16.63
16 2 4 Ward Bauwens   Belgium 4:16.71 NR
17 4 7 Ioannis Drymonakos   Greece 4:17.04
18 2 6 Raphaël Stacchiotti   Luxembourg 4:17.20 NR
19 5 1 Riaan Schoeman   South Africa 4:17.22
5 7 Federico Turrini   Italy
21 3 7 Alexander Tikhonov   Russia 4:18.12
22 3 5 Dávid Verrasztó   Hungary 4:18.31
23 4 8 Alec Page   Canada 4:19.17
24 3 2 Joe Roebuck   Great Britain 4:20.24
25 1 5 Bradley Ally   Barbados 4:21.32
26 2 2 Yury Suvorau   Belarus 4:23.06 NR
2 5 Diogo Carvalho   Portugal
28 2 3 Jung Won-yong   South Korea 4:23.12
29 2 1 Esteban Enderica Salgado   Ecuador 4:24.32 NR
30 2 8 Pedro Pinotes   Angola 4:24.69
31 1 4 Anton Sveinn McKee   Iceland 4:25.06 NR
32 5 8 Daniel Tranter   Australia 4:25.76
33 2 7 Quah Zheng Wen   Singapore 4:26.81
34 1 6 Marko Blaževski   Macedonia 4:32.38
35 1 3 Rafael Alfaro   El Salvador 4:35.80
36 1 2 Ahmed Ghithe Atari   Qatar 5:21.30
3 8 Taki Mrabet   Tunisia DSQ

Final edit

Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
  3 Ryan Lochte   United States 4:05.18
  6 Thiago Pereira   Brazil 4:08.86 NR
  4 Kosuke Hagino   Japan 4:08.94 AS
4 8 Michael Phelps   United States 4:09.28
5 5 Chad le Clos   South Africa 4:12.42
6 1 Yuya Horihata   Japan 4:13.30
7 2 Thomas Fraser-Holmes   Australia 4:13.49
8 7 Luca Marin   Italy 4:14.89

References edit

  1. ^ "Swimming: Results & Schedules". London 2012. NBC Olympics. 28 July 2012. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  2. ^ "Ryan Lochte wins medley gold as Michael Phelps finishes fourth". BBC Sport. 28 July 2012. Archived from the original on 8 November 2012. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  3. ^ "Lochte wins 400 IM final for first US gold". ESPN. 28 July 2012. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  4. ^ Carroll, Mary (28 July 2012). "Brazil Starts Olympics With a Gold: Daily". The Rio Times. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  5. ^ Newberry, Paul (28 July 2012). "Lochte wins 400m IM in blowout; Phelps finishes 4th". London 2012. NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 7 July 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  6. ^ a b "2012 London Olympics: Ryan Lochte Posts Textile Best, Demolishes Field in 400 IM; Michael Phelps Misses Podium". Swimming World Magazine. 28 July 2012. Archived from the original on 28 January 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  7. ^ Adderly, Esther (28 July 2012). "London 2012: Michael Phelps fourth as Ryan Lochte cruises to victory". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  8. ^ "Slow prelims puts Phelps in unenviable Lane 8 for 400 IM final". CBS Sports. 28 July 2012. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  9. ^ "2012 London Olympics: Kosuke Hagino With Asian Record to Lead 400 IM; Phelps Underperforms". Swimming World Magazine. 28 July 2012. Archived from the original on 2013-05-27. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  10. ^ a b Bishop, Greg (9 August 2008). "Phelps smashes world record to win gold". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 August 2008.
  11. ^ a b "Opening statement: Phelps grabs gold, WR in 400 IM". ESPN. 10 August 2008. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
  12. ^ "Men's 400m Individual Medley – Heats". London2012.com. LOCOG. Archived from the original on 5 December 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012.

External links edit