Swimming_at_the_2016_Summer_Olympics_–_Men's_400_metre_freestyle
| Men's 400 metre freestyle at the Games of the XXXI Olympiad | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Olympic Aquatics Stadium | ||||||||||||
| Dates | 27 April 2016 (heats & final) | ||||||||||||
| Competitors | 50 from 39 nations | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 3:41.55 | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
The men's 400 metre freestyle event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place on 6 August at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium.[1]
China's Sun Yang fell short of his attempt to a back-to-back gold in one of the program's long-distance freestyle races due to an upset performance from Australia's Mack Horton. Heading into the final lap with a narrow 0.14-second lead, Horton managed to hold off the fast-charging Sun towards the finish for his first individual gold medal in 3:41.55.[2] Unable to catch his Aussie rival near the wall by 13-hundredths of a second, Sun settled for the silver in 3:41.68. Meanwhile, Gabriele Detti picked up the bronze with a time of 3:43.49 to become Italy's first male Olympic medalist in swimming since 2000.[3]
Conor Dwyer (3:44.01), the fastest swimmer headed into the final, and fellow American Connor Jaeger (3:44.16) finished off the podium in fourth and fifth respectively, separated by a 0.15-second margin.[4] Great Britain's James Guy led the pack towards the halfway mark under a world record pace, but faded to sixth in 3:44.68. Horton's teammate David McKeon (3:45.28) and France's Jordan Pothain (3:49.07) rounded out the field.[3]
South Korean swimmer and Beijing 2008 champion Park Tae-hwan, as well as Canada's long distance ace Ryan Cochrane, did not advance to the final, finishing tenth and eleventh in the prelims.[5]
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 | [6] |
| Olympic record |  Sun Yang (CHN) | 3:40.14 | London, Great Britain | 28 July 2012 | [7] |
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 used as necessary to break ties for advancement to the next round.[1]
Heats
The heats began at 1:48 pm.[8]
ƒ False start, but allowed to continue at referee's discretion.[9]
Final
The final began at 10:30 pm.[10]
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| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 5 | Mack Horton |  Australia | 3:41.55 | |
 | 6 | Sun Yang | China | 3:41.68 | |
 | 3 | Gabriele Detti |  Italy | 3:43.49 | |
| 4 | 4 | Conor Dwyer |  United States | 3:44.01 | |
| 5 | 1 | Connor Jaeger | United States | 3:44.16 | |
| 6 | 7 | James Guy |  Great Britain | 3:44.68 | |
| 7 | 2 | David McKeon | Australia | 3:45.28 | |
| 8 | 8 | Jordan Pothain |  France | 3:49.07 |
- "Men's 400m Freestyle". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on 6 August 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
- Pentony, Luke (7 August 2016). "Rio 2016: Mack Horton wins Australia's first swimming medal, winning 400-metres freestyle". ABC News Australia. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
- "Mack Horton Edges Sun Yang for 400 Freestyle Gold in Rio". Swimming World Magazine. 6 August 2016. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
- Johnson, Raphielle (6 August 2016). "Australia's Horton hangs on for 400 meter freestyle gold". NBC Olympics. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
- "Conor Dwyer Leads Tight 400 Free Field Into Finals At 2016 Rio Olympic Games". Swimming World Magazine. 6 August 2016. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
- Cowley, Michael (27 July 2009). "Thorpe's mark tumbles in night of world records". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
- "Olympic swimming: China's Sun Yang beats rival Park to gold". BBC Sport. 28 July 2012. Archived from the original on 31 July 2012. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
- "Results of the men's 400 metre freestyle heats at the 2016 Summer Olympics" (PDF). Rio 2016. 6 August 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 August 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
- Lutton, Phil (7 August 2016). "Teary Miguel Duran Navia gets second Rio chance after false start at Olympics". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
- "Results of the men's 400 metre freestyle final at the 2016 Summer Olympics" (PDF). Rio 2016. 6 August 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 August 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2016.