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

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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
1st place, gold medalist(s) Katie Ledecky  United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Jazmin Carlin  Great Britain
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Leah Smith  United States
← 2012
2020 →

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

Summary

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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

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

World record  Katie Ledecky (USA) 3:58.37 Gold Coast, Australia 23 August 2014 [9]
Olympic record  Camille Muffat (FRA) 4:01.45 London, Great Britain 29 July 2012 [10]

The following records were established during the competition:

Date Round Name Nation Time Record
7 August Heat 4 Katie Ledecky  United States 3:58.71 OR
7 August Final Katie Ledecky  United States 3:56.46 WR, OR

Competition format

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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

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Heats

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The heats began 2:28 pm.[11]

Rank Heat Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 4 4 Katie Ledecky    United States   3:58.71 Q, OR
2 3 3 Jazmin Carlin    Great Britain   4:02.83 Q
3 3 4 Leah Smith    United States   4:03.39 Q
4 4 6 Coralie Balmy    France   4:03.40 Q
5 3 6 Brittany MacLean    Canada   4:03.43 Q, NR
6 3 5 Jessica Ashwood    Australia   4:03.58 Q
7 4 3 Boglárka Kapás    Hungary   4:04.11 Q
8 4 1 Tamsin Cook    Australia   4:04.36 Q
9 2 5 Zhang Yuhan    China   4:06.30
10 2 4 Sarah Köhler    Germany   4:06.55
11 2 3 Lotte Friis    Denmark   4:07.13
12 1 4 Chihiro Igarashi    Japan   4:07.52
13 1 3 Joanna Evans    Bahamas   4:07.60 NR
14 4 2 Lauren Boyle    New Zealand   4:07.90
15 3 2 Mireia Belmonte García    Spain   4:08.12
16 2 6 Andreina Pinto    Venezuela   4:08.34
17 3 8 Melania Costa Schmid    Spain   4:08.96
18 4 8 Anja Klinar    Slovenia   4:09.07
19 4 5 Sharon van Rouwendaal    Netherlands   4:11.44
20 2 8 Arina Openysheva    Russia   4:11.83
21 2 2 Ajna Késely    Hungary   4:12.40
22 3 1 Alice Mizzau    Italy   4:14.20
23 1 6 Katarina Simonović    Serbia  4:15.57
24 1 2 Kristel Köbrich    Chile   4:16.07
25 2 7 Emily Overholt    Canada   4:16.24
26 2 1 Nguyễn Thị Ánh Viên    Vietnam   4:16.32
27 4 7 Diletta Carli    Italy   4:17.15
28 3 7 Cao Yue    China   4:19.57
29 1 5 Valerie Gruest    Guatemala   4:19.58
30 1 7 Lani Cabrera    Barbados   4:28.95
31 1 8 Gabriella Doueihy    Lebanon   4:31.21
32 1 1 Rebeca Quinteros    El Salvador   4:52.11

Final

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Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) 4 Katie Ledecky  United States 3:56.46 WR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) 5 Jazmin Carlin  Great Britain 4:01.23
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 3 Leah Smith  United States 4:01.92
4 1 Boglárka Kapás  Hungary 4:02.37 NR
5 2 Brittany MacLean  Canada 4:04.69
6 8 Tamsin Cook  Australia 4:05.30
7 7 Jessica Ashwood  Australia 4:05.68
8 6 Coralie Balmy  France 4:06.98

References

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  1. ^ a b "Women's 400m Freestyle". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on 22 September 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. ^ a b "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.