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

Men's 400 metre freestyle
at the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad
Competitors 47 from 39 nations
Medalists
  Ian Thorpe   Australia
  Grant Hackett   Australia
  Klete Keller   United States
«2000 2008»
Swimming events at the
2004 Summer Olympics
Freestyle
50 m   men   women
100 m men women
200 m men women
400 m men women
800 m women
1500 m men
Backstroke
100 m men women
200 m men women
Breaststroke
100 m men women
200 m men women
Butterfly
100 m men women
200 m men women
Individual medley
200 m men women
400 m men women
Freestyle relay
4×100 m men women
4×200 m men women
Medley relay
4×100 m men women

The Men's 400 metre freestyle event was one of sixteen events for male swimmers at the 2004 Olympics.

Records

World Record Ian Thorpe (AUS) Manchester, England 3:40.08 30 July 2002
Olympic Record Ian Thorpe (AUS) Sydney, Australia 3:40.59 16 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.[1] 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".[2] 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.[1] This generated ethical debate as to whether Stevens' decision had been bought, and criticism against Thorpe.[3][4]

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.[5]

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.[6][7]

Notes

Japanese swimmer Takeshi Matsuda broke the Asian record for this distance in both the qualifying heats and the final.

Heats

Heat 1

  1. Miguel Mendoza, Philippines — 4:01.99
  2. Te Tung Chen, Chinese Taipei — 4:03.71
  3. Emanuele Nicolini, San Marino — 4:08.28
  4. Anas Sameer N H Abuyousuf, Qatar — 4:11.99
  5. Vasilii Danilov, Kyrgyzstan — 4:15.32
  6. Sergey Tsoy, Uzbekistan — 4:16.91
  7. Neil Agius, Malta — 4:22.14

Heat 2

  1. Giancarlo Zolezzi, Chile -- 3:56.52 NR
  2. Moss Burmester, New Zealand -- 3:57.29
  3. Petar Stoychev, Bulgaria -- 3:59.86
  4. Charnvudth Saengsri, Thailand -- 3:59.89
  5. Victor Rogut, Moldova -- 4:01.68
  6. Nenad Buljan, Croatia -- 4:02.76
  7. Martin Kutscher, Uruguay -- 4:03.21
  8. Aytekin Mindan, Turkey -- 4:06.85

Heat 3

  1. Zhang Lin, China -- 3:56.65
  2. Juan Martin Pereyra, Argentina -- 3:57.26
  3. Leonardo Salinas Saldana, Mexico -- 3:58.36
  4. Mahrez Mebarek, Algeria -- 3:59.10
  5. Bojan Zdešar, Slovenia -- 3:59.38
  6. Bruno Bonfim, Brazil -- 3:59.96
  7. Boldizsar Kiss, Turkey -- 4:02.87
  8. Park Tae-Hwan, South Korea -- Disqualified

Heat 4

  1. Massimiliano Rosolino, Italy -- 3:47.72 -Q
  2. Klete Keller, United States -- 3:47.77 -Q
  3. Nicolas Rostoucher, France -- 3:50.73
  4. Andrew Hurd, Canada -- 3:50.81
  5. Heiko Hell, Germany -- 3:52.06
  6. Serhii Phyesenko, Ukraine -- 3:53.41
  7. Ricardo Monasterio, Venezuela -- 3:54.41
  8. Dimitrios Manganas, Greece -- 3:54.78

Heat 5

  1. Grant Hackett, Australia -- 3:46.36 -Q
  2. Yuri Prilukov, Russia -- 3:48.71 -Q
  3. Takeshi Matsuda, Japan -- 3:49.05 -Q
  4. Łukasz Drzewiński, Poland -- 3:50.97
  5. Jacob Carstensen, Denmark -- 3:51.09
  6. Dragoş Coman, Romania -- 3:51.73
  7. Adam Faulkner, Great Britain -- 3:51.97
  8. Mark Johnston, Canada -- 3:54.27

Heat 6

  1. Ian Thorpe, Australia -- 3:46.55 -Q
  2. Larsen Jensen, United States -- 3:46.90 -Q
  3. Spyridon Gianniotis, Greece -- 3:48.77 -Q
  4. Przemysław Stańczyk, Poland -- 3:49.22
  5. Christian Hein, Germany -- 3:49.66
  6. Emiliano Brembilla, Italy -- 3:50.55
  7. Marcos Rivera, Spain -- 3:52.39
  8. Graeme Smith, Great Britain -- 3:52.41

Heat rankings

  1. Grant Hackett, Australia 3:46.36 -Q
  2. Ian Thorpe, Australia 3:46.55 -Q
  3. Larsen Jensen, United States 3:46.90 -Q
  4. Massimiliano Rosolino, Italy 3:47.72 -Q
  5. Klete Keller, United States 3:47.77 -Q
  6. Yuri Prilukov, Russia 3:48.71 -Q
  7. Spyridon Gianniotis, Greece 3:48.77 -Q
  8. Takeshi Matsuda, Japan 3:49.05 -Q Asian Record
  9. Przemysław Stańczyk, Poland 3:49.22
  10. Christian Hein, Germany 3:49.66
  11. Emiliano Brembilla, Italy 3:50.55
  12. Nicolas Rostoucher, France 3:50.73
  13. Andrew Hurd, Canada 3:50.81
  14. Łukasz Drzewiński, Poland 3:50.97
  15. Jacob Carstensen, Denmark 3:51.09
  16. Dragoş Coman, Romania 3:51.73
  17. Adam Faulkner, Great Britain 3:51.97
  18. Heiko Hell, Germany 3:52.06
  19. Marcos Rivera, Spain 3:52.39
  20. Graeme Smith, Great Britain 3:52.41
  21. Serhii Phyesenko, Ukraine 3:53.41
  22. Mark Johnston, Canada 3:54.27
  23. Ricardo Monasterio, Venezuela 3:54.41
  24. Dimitrios Manganas, Greece 3:54.78
  25. Giancarlo Zolezzi, Chile 3:56.52
  26. Lin Zhang, China 3:56.65
  27. Juan Martin Pereyra, Argentina 3:57.26
  28. Moss Burmester, New Zealand 3:57.29
  29. Leonardo Salinas Saldana, Mexico 3:58.36
  30. Mahrez Mebarek, Algeria 3:59.10
  31. Bojan Zdesar, Slovenia 3:59.38
  32. Petar Stoychev, Bulgaria 3:59.86
  33. Charnvudth Saengsri, Thailand 3:59.89
  34. Bruno Bonfim, Brazil 3:59.96
  35. Victor Rogut, Republic of Moldova 4:01.68
  36. Miguel Mendoza, Philippines 4:01.99
  37. Nenad Buljan, Croatia 4:02.76
  38. Boldizsar Kiss, Hungary 4:02.87
  39. Martin Kutscher, Uruguay 4:03.21
  40. Te Tung Chen, Chinese Taipei 4:03.71
  41. Aytekin Mindan, Turkey 4:06.85
  42. Emanuele Nicolini, San Marino 4:08.28
  43. Anas Sameer N H Abuyousuf, Qatar 4:11.99
  44. Vasily Danilov, Kyrgyzstan 4:15.32
  45. Sergey Tsoy, Uzbekistan 4:16.91
  46. Neil Agius, Malta 4:22.14
  47. Park Tae-Hwan, Korea Disqualified

Final

  1. Ian Thorpe, Australia 3:43.10
  2. Grant Hackett, Australia 3:43.36
  3. Klete Keller, United States 3:44.11 American Record
  4. Larsen Jensen, United States 3:46.08
  5. Massimiliano Rosolino, Italy 3:46.25
  6. Yuri Prilukov, Russia 3:46.69
  7. Spyridon Gianniotis, Greece 3:48.77
  8. Takeshi Matsuda, Japan 3:48.96 Asian Record

References

  1. ^ a b "Ian Thorpe - Career at a glance". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2006-11-21. http://www.abc.net.au/sport/columns/200611/s1793724.htm?swimming. Retrieved 2006-11-22. 
  2. ^ Bannerman, Mark (2004-03-29). "Thorpe's tumble divides nation". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2004/s1076520.htm. Retrieved 2006-11-14. 
  3. ^ Bannerman, Mark (2004-04-29). "Stevens announcement raises financial questions for world sport" (The 7.30 report, transcript). Australian Broadcasting Corporation. http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2004/s1095187.htm. Retrieved 2006-11-14. 
  4. ^ Hunter (2004), pp. 354-359.
  5. ^ "No mistakes as Thorpe launches 400 m defence". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2004-08-14. http://www.abc.net.au/sport/content/200408/s1176661.htm. Retrieved 2006-11-16. 
  6. ^ "Thorpe, Hackett quinella 400 m free". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2004-08-15. http://www.abc.net.au/sport/content/200408/s1176720.htm. Retrieved 2006-11-16. 
  7. ^ Hunter (2004), pp. 384-388.