Competitors 27 from 20 nations Venue Olympic Aquatics Stadium | Winning time 4:06.05 AS | |
Dates 6 August 2016 (heats & final) Location Olympic Aquatics Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | ||
The men's 400 metre individual medley event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place on 6 August at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium.
London 2012 bronze medalist Kosuke Hagino ended the 24-year American supremacy to win Japan's first ever gold medal in the event at these Games. He held off a late challenge from the top-seeded U.S. swimmer Chase Kalisz down the final stretch to touch the wall first in a new Asian record of 4:06.05. Snapping a streak of five straight golds for the United States, Kalisz managed to secure his first Olympic career medal with a personal best of 4:06.75 for a silver. Meanwhile, Hagino's fellow countryman and 2015 world champion Daiya Seto captured the bronze in 4:09.71, to give Japan two swimmers on the same Olympic podium for the first time in 60 years.
Great Britain's Max Litchfield finished off the podium with a fourth-place time in 4:11.62, edging out the American Jay Litherland by six-hundredths of a second (4:11.68). Australian duo Thomas Fraser-Holmes (4:11.90) and Travis Mahoney (4:15.48), as well as Spain's Joan Lluís Pons (4:16.58) closed out the field.
Germany's Jacob Heidtmann, who established a new national record of 4:11.85 to finish among the top eight for the final, was disqualified for using two dolphin kicks in the breaststroke leg during the prelims.
The medals for the competition were presented by Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, IOC member, and the gifts were presented by Dr. Julio Maglione, President of the FINA.
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.