Swimming at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Women's 400 metre freestyle

The women's 400 metre freestyle event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place on 7 August, at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium.[1]

Women's 400 metre freestyle
at the Games of the XXXI Olympiad
VenueOlympic Aquatics Stadium
Dates7 August 2016
Competitors32 from 25 nations
Winning time3:56.46 WR
Medalists
Katie Ledecky  United States
Jazmin Carlin  Great Britain
Leah Smith  United States

Summary

U.S. distance ace Katie Ledecky put together a powerful attack on her existing world record to become the first Olympic champion in the event for the Americans, since Brooke Bennett topped the podium in 2000. Leading from the start, Ledecky quickly dropped two seconds under a world-record pace, as she pulled away further from the field to smash her own record with a gold-medal time in 3:56.46.[2][3] Trailing the leader by almost five seconds, Great Britain's distance-freestyle swimmer Jazmin Carlin fought off a tight battle against Ledecky's teammate Leah Smith on the final lap for the silver in 4:01.23.[4] Meanwhile, Smith faded down the stretch to pick up a bronze with a 4:01.92.[5][6]

Boglárka Kapás missed the podium in fourth with a Hungarian record of 4:02.37 from the outside lane, while Canada's Brittany MacLean posted a fifth-place time in 4:04.69. Australian duo Tamsin Cook (4:05.30) and Jessica Ashwood (4:05.68) kept a close race to take the sixth and seventh spots respectively, separated by a 0.4-second margin. France's three-time Olympian Coralie Balmy rounded out the top eight with a 4:06.98.[5]

Earlier in the prelims, Ledecky opened her first individual race of the Games with a new Olympic record of 3:58.71 to immediately lock the top seed for the final, clearing a four-minute barrier at the Games for the first time, and slashing 2.74 seconds off the mark set in London 2012 by reigning champion Camille Muffat of France, who was killed on a helicopter crash in March 2015.[7][8]

The medals for the competition were presented by Nita Ambani, India, IOC member, and the gifts were presented by Dr. Margo Mountjoy, Bureau Member of the FINA.

Records

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

World record Katie Ledecky (USA)3:58.37Gold Coast, Australia23 August 2014[9]
Olympic record Camille Muffat (FRA)4:01.45London, Great Britain29 July 2012[10]

The following records were established during the competition:

DateRoundNameNationTimeRecord
7 AugustHeat 4Katie Ledecky United States3:58.71OR
7 AugustFinalKatie Ledecky United States3:56.46WR, OR

Competition format

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]

Results

Heats

The heats began 2:28 pm.[11]

RankHeatLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
144Katie Ledecky   United States  3:58.71Q, OR
233Jazmin Carlin   Great Britain  4:02.83Q
334Leah Smith   United States  4:03.39Q
446Coralie Balmy   France  4:03.40Q
536Brittany MacLean   Canada  4:03.43Q, NR
635Jessica Ashwood   Australia  4:03.58Q
743Boglárka Kapás   Hungary  4:04.11Q
841Tamsin Cook   Australia  4:04.36Q
925Zhang Yuhan   China  4:06.30
1024Sarah Köhler   Germany  4:06.55
1123Lotte Friis   Denmark  4:07.13
1214Chihiro Igarashi   Japan  4:07.52
1313Joanna Evans   Bahamas  4:07.60NR
1442Lauren Boyle   New Zealand  4:07.90
1532Mireia Belmonte García   Spain  4:08.12
1626Andreina Pinto   Venezuela  4:08.34
1738Melania Costa Schmid   Spain  4:08.96
1848Anja Klinar   Slovenia  4:09.07
1945Sharon van Rouwendaal   Netherlands  4:11.44
2028Arina Openysheva   Russia  4:11.83
2122Ajna Késely   Hungary  4:12.40
2231Alice Mizzau   Italy  4:14.20
2316Katarina Simonović   Serbia 4:15.57
2412Kristel Köbrich   Chile  4:16.07
2527Emily Overholt   Canada  4:16.24
2621Nguyễn Thị Ánh Viên   Vietnam  4:16.32
2747Diletta Carli   Italy  4:17.15
2837Cao Yue   China  4:19.57
2915Valerie Gruest   Guatemala  4:19.58
3017Lani Cabrera   Barbados  4:28.95
3118Gabriella Doueihy   Lebanon  4:31.21
3211Rebeca Quinteros   El Salvador  4:52.11

Final

RankLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
4Katie Ledecky United States3:56.46WR
5Jazmin Carlin Great Britain4:01.23
3Leah Smith United States4:01.92
41Boglárka Kapás Hungary4:02.37NR
52Brittany MacLean Canada4:04.69
68Tamsin Cook Australia4:05.30
77Jessica Ashwood Australia4:05.68
86Coralie Balmy France4:06.98

References

  1. "Women's 400m Freestyle". Rio 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  2. "Katie Ledecky smashes world record to win Olympic gold in 400-meter freestyle". The Washington Post. 8 August 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  3. Auerbach, Nicole (8 August 2016). "Katie Ledecky wins gold in women's 400 free, breaks her own world record". USA Today. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  4. "Rio Olympics 2016: Briton Jazz Carlin wins 400m freestyle silver". BBC Sport. 8 August 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  5. "Katie Ledecky Smashes 400 Free World Record; Earns First Gold Medal For USA". Swimming World Magazine. 8 August 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  6. Johnson, Raphielle (8 August 2016). "Katie Ledecky wins 400 free, shatters WR; Smith third". NBC Olympics. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  7. Drehs, Wayne (7 August 2016). "Katie Ledecky posts Olympic record in 400-meter freestyle". ESPN. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  8. "Katie Ledecky Posts Olympic Record in 400 Freestyle Prelims". Swimming World Magazine. 7 August 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  9. "Katie Ledecky Breaks 400 Freestyle World Record". ABC News. 23 August 2014. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
  10. Baldwin, Alan (29 July 2012). "Muffat takes on Manaudou's mantle". Reuters. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  11. "Women's 400m Freestyle Heats Results" (PDF). Rio 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 August 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.