Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metre freestyle

The men's 400 metre freestyle event at the 2004 Olympic Games was contested at the Olympic Aquatic Centre of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex in Athens, Greece on August 14.[1]

Men's 400 metre freestyle
at the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad
VenueAthens Olympic Aquatic Centre
DatesAugust 14, 2004 (heats & final)
Competitors47 from 39 nations
Winning time3:43.10
Medalists
Ian Thorpe  Australia
Grant Hackett  Australia
Klete Keller  United States
Swimming at the
2004 Summer Olympics
Freestyle
50 mmenwomen
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
400 mmenwomen
800 mwomen
1500 mmen
Backstroke
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
Breaststroke
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
Butterfly
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
Individual medley
200 mmenwomen
400 mmenwomen
Freestyle relay
4×100 mmenwomen
4×200 mmenwomen
Medley relay
4×100 mmenwomen

Australia's Ian Thorpe edged out his teammate Grant Hackett to defend his Olympic title in 3:43.10, despite having been disqualified for a false start from the national trials in Sydney. Hackett earned a silver in 3:43.36, just 0.01 of a second under his winning time at the trials without the presence of Thorpe. U.S. swimmer Klete Keller set a new American record of 3:44.11 to take his second Olympic bronze medal in the event.[2][3][4] Meanwhile, another American Larsen Jensen finished outside the medals in fourth place, but came home in a lifetime best of 3:46.08, holding off Italy's Massimiliano Rosolino by 0.17 seconds.[3]

Records

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

World record Ian Thorpe (AUS)3:40.08Manchester, England30 July 2002
Olympic record Ian Thorpe (AUS)3:40.59Sydney, Australia16 September 2000

Pre-Olympic buildup
Main article: Ian Thorpe false start controversy

In late March 2004 at the Australian Championships in Sydney, the defending champion Ian Thorpe overbalanced whilst on the blocks in the heats of the 400 m freestyle and fell into the water, resulting in his disqualification and ending the defense of his Olympic 400 m title.[5] This resulted in a large debate among the swimming and public community as to whether Thorpe should be given an exception to Australia's policy of selecting the first and second place getters, with Prime Minister of Australia John Howard describing the situation as a "tragedy".[6] Despite the intense media spotlight, Thorpe managed to win the 100 m and 200 m freestyle events in times of 48.83s and 1 min 45.07s respectively to ensure his selection for Athens. Craig Stevens, who had claimed the second qualifying position in the 400 m event, subsequently faced immense public pressure to relinquish his position to Thorpe, and later did so in a television interview for which he was paid.[5] This generated ethical debate as to whether Stevens' decision had been bought, and criticism against Thorpe.[7][8]

Thorpe's increasing focus on the 100 m event, coupled with the media pressure, resulted in speculation that he was vulnerable to Hackett in the 400 m event. Thorpe safely qualified for the 400 m final behind Hackett in the heats.[9]

Results

Heats
RankHeatLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
154Ian Thorpe Australia3:46.36Q
264Grant Hackett Australia3:46.55Q
365Larsen Jensen United States3:46.90Q
445Massimiliano Rosolino Italy3:47.72Q
544Klete Keller United States3:47.77Q
653Yuri Prilukov Russia3:48.71Q
766Spyridon Gianniotis Greece3:48.77Q
857Takeshi Matsuda Japan3:49.05Q, AS
967Przemysław Stańczyk Poland3:49.22
1068Christian Hein Germany3:49.66
1163Emiliano Brembilla Italy3:50.55
1247Nicolas Rostoucher France3:50.73
1343Andrew Hurd Canada3:50.81
1451Łukasz Drzewiński Poland3:50.97
1552Jacob Carstensen Denmark3:51.09
1655Dragoş Coman Romania3:51.73
1756Adam Faulkner Great Britain3:51.97
1841Heiko Hell Germany3:52.06
1961Marcos Rivera Spain3:52.39
2062Graeme Smith Great Britain3:52.41
2148Sergey Fesenko Ukraine3:53.41
2258Mark Johnston Canada3:54.27
2346Ricardo Monasterio Venezuela3:54.41
2442Dimitrios Manganas Greece3:54.78
2524Giancarlo Zolezzi Chile3:56.52NR
2634Zhang Lin China3:56.65
2731Juan Martín Pereyra Argentina3:57.26
2825Moss Burmester New Zealand3:57.29
2937Leonardo Salinas Saldana Mexico3:58.36
3036Mahrez Mebarek Algeria3:59.10
3133Bojan Zdešar Slovenia3:59.38
3222Petar Stoychev Bulgaria3:59.86
3323Charnvudth Saengsri Thailand3:59.89
3435Bruno Bonfim Brazil3:59.96
3521Victor Rogut Moldova4:01.68
3612Miguel Mendoza Philippines4:01.99
3727Nenad Buljan Croatia4:02.76
3838Boldizsár Kiss Hungary4:02.87
3928Martín Kutscher Uruguay4:03.21
4015Chen Te-tung Chinese Taipei4:03.71
4126Aytekin Mindan Turkey4:06.85
4213Emanuele Nicolini San Marino4:08.28
4317Anas Abuyousuf Qatar4:11.99
4416Vasilii Danilov Kyrgyzstan4:15.32
4514Sergey Tsoy Uzbekistan4:16.91
4611Neil Agius Malta4:22.14
32Park Tae-hwan South KoreaDSQ

Final

There was a slow start in the final, with Thorpe reaching the 100 m mark one second outside world record pace with a narrow lead. In a topsy-turvy performance at irregular pace, Thorpe was passed by Klete Keller by the 150 m mark before accelerating again to reclaim the lead by the 200 m mark. Thorpe kept Hackett and Keller at around half a body length up to the 300 m mark, before breaking to a body-length lead by 350 m. However, he could not produce his trademark finishing kick and was closed down by Hackett, holding on by only 0.26  in a time three seconds outside his own world record. Thorpe appeared to shed tears in an uncharacteristic sign of emotion, admitting afterwards that the controversy surrounding the event had taken a toll on him, but denying that any liquid had left his eyes.[10][11]

RankLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
5Ian Thorpe Australia3:43.10
4Grant Hackett Australia3:43.36
2Klete Keller United States3:44.11AM
43Larsen Jensen United States3:46.08
56Massimiliano Rosolino Italy3:46.25
67Yuri Prilukov Russia3:46.69
71Spyridon Gianniotis Greece3:48.77
88Takeshi Matsuda Japan3:48.96AS

References
  1. "Swimming schedule". BBC Sport. 5 August 2004. Retrieved 17 June 2007.
  2. "Thorpie Out-Touches Hackett and Keller to Retain His 400 Freestyle Olympic Crown". Swimming World Magazine. 14 August 2004. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  3. Thomas, Stephen (14 August 2004). "Thorpe Keeps His 400 Free Olympic Crown, Just Holds off Hackett Yet Again. Klete Keller Breaks His American Record, Takes the Bronze". Swimming World Magazine. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  4. Shipley, Amy (15 August 2004). "Thorpe Strikes Gold". Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
  5. "Ian Thorpe - Career at a glance". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2006-11-21. Archived from the original on September 20, 2008. Retrieved 2006-11-22.
  6. Bannerman, Mark (2004-03-29). "Thorpe's tumble divides nation". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2006-11-14.
  7. Bannerman, Mark (2004-04-29). "Stevens announcement raises financial questions for world sport" (The 7.30 report, transcript). Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2006-11-14.
  8. Hunter (2004), pp. 354-359.
  9. "No mistakes as Thorpe launches 400 m defence". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2004-08-14. Archived from the original on December 4, 2005. Retrieved 2006-11-16.
  10. "Thorpe, Hackett quinella 400 m free". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 15 August 2004. Archived from the original on November 4, 2005. Retrieved 16 November 2006.
  11. Hunter (2004), pp. 384-388.
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