The men's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay event at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

took place on 7 August at the

Olympic Aquatics Stadium The Olympic Aquatics Stadium ( pt, Estádio Aquático Olímpico) was a temporary aquatics center in the Barra Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro. The venue hosted the Swimming at the 2016 Summer Olympics, swimming events, Synchronized swimming at t ...

Summary

Four years after losing the Olympic gold to the Frenchmen in this event, the U.S. men's team was able to get back on top of the podium at these Games. Holding a tight race against the field on the lead-off leg by

Caeleb Dressel Caeleb Remel Dressel (born August 16, 1996) is an American professional swimmer who specializes in freestyle, butterfly, and individual medley events. He swims representing the Cali Condors as part of the International Swimming League. He won ...

(48.10), Michael Phelps threw down a 47.12 split on the second leg to move the Americans to the front, until he handed the youngster

Ryan Held Ryan Held (born June 27, 1995) is an American freestyle swimmer who specializes in the sprint events, and is currently sponsored by Arena. He holds the U.S. Open record in the long course 100 meter freestyle and three world records in short co ...

(47.73) and veteran

Nathan Adrian Nathan Ghar-jun Adrian (born December 7, 1988) is an American competitive swimmer and five-time Olympic gold medalist who formerly held the American record in the long course 50-meter freestyle event. In his Olympic debut at the 2008 Summer O ...

their relay duties at the remaining exchanges of the race. Adrian delivered a fastest split in the field with an anchor of 46.97 to race against the Frenchmen towards a gold-medal finish in 3:09.92. Phelps had officially come out of retirement two years earlier to extend his career resume with a nineteenth gold medal and twenty-third overall at his fifth straight Olympics. France's

Mehdy Metella Mehdy Metella (born 17 July 1992) is a French freestyle and butterfly swimmer.

(48.08),

Fabien Gilot Fabien Pierre Aurélien Dominique Gilot (born 27 April 1984) is a French Olympic and world champion swimmer. Early life Gilot was born in Denain, France, to Michel and Yveline Gilot. He started by playing water polo, before switching to swimmi ...

(48.20), and Florent Manaudou (47.14) handed Jérémy Stravius the anchor duties to chase down the Americans to the front, but Stravius' split of 47.11 was just good enough to settle them only for the silver in 3:10.53. Meanwhile, the Australian combination of James Roberts (48.88),

Kyle Chalmers Kyle Chalmers, (born 25 June 1998) is an Australian competitive swimmer. He is a world record holder in the short course 100 metre freestyle, 4×100 metre medley relay, and long course 4×100 metre mixed freestyle relay. He is the Oceanian a ...

(47.38), James Magnussen (48.11), and

Cameron McEvoy Cameron McEvoy (born 13 May 1994) is an Australian competitive swimmer who represented his country at the 2012 Summer Olympics, 2016 Summer Olympics and 2020 Summer Olympics. Career Junior At the 2011 World Junior Championships in Lima, Peru, ...

(47.00) snatched the bronze in 3:11.37 to hold off the Russian quartet of

Andrey Grechin Andrey Vladimirovich Grechin (russian: Андрей Владимирович Гречин, born 21 October 1987) is a Russian swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move throug ...

(48.68),

Danila Izotov Danila Sergeevich Izotov (russian: Данила Сергеевич Изотов; born 2 October 1991) is a Russian swimmer, a member of the Russian National team since 2008, and a multiple medalist at the Olympic Games and World Championships, as ...

(48.00), Vladimir Morozov (47.31), and Alexander Sukhorukov (47.65) by nearly three tenths of a second, a fourth-place time in 3:11.64. Outside the podium, Brazil's Marcelo Chierighini (48.12), Nicolas Oliveira (48.26), Gabriel Santos (48.72), and

João de Lucca João Bevilaqua de Lucca (born 6 January 1990 in Rio de Janeiro) is a Brazilian swimmer. He won the silver medal in the 4×200-metre freestyle at the 2006 FINA Youth World Swimming Championships in Rio de Janeiro, and the bronze medal in the 4 ...

(48.11) enjoyed racing in front of the home crowd to pick up the fifth spot with a 3:13.21. The Belgian foursome of

Glenn Surgeloose Glenn Surgeloose (born 4 September 1989) is a Belgian swimmer, who specializes in sprint freestyle events. He collected a bronze medal in the 200 m freestyle at the 2007 European Junior Swimming Championships in Antwerp, Belgium. Surgeloose is ...

(48.73),

Jasper Aerents Jasper Aerents (born 18 December 1992) is a Belgian swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. Career He won two bronze medals, as a member of the Belgian swimming team, in the 4×50 m freestyle relay at the 2011 European Short Course ...

(48.47),

Emmanuel Vanluchene Emmanuel Vanluchene (born 9 December 1992) is a Belgian swimmer. He is competing for Belgium at the 2012 Summer Olympics. References Belgian male freestyle swimmers Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2016 Summer ...

(48.82), and

Pieter Timmers Pieter Timmers (born 21 January 1988) is a Belgian retired competitive swimmer who specialized in sprint freestyle events. He won the silver medal in the 100 meter freestyle at the 2016 Olympics. Timmers currently holds nine Belgian records, and ...

(47.55) struggled to mount a challenge against the top-ranked teams throughout the race, but they managed to finish sixth with a national record of 3:13.57. Canada (3:14.35) and Japan (3:14.48) rounded out the championship field. The medals for the competition were presented by Ivan Dibos, Peru,

IOC member This is a list of members of the International Olympic Committee. According to the Olympic Charter, the members of the IOC "represent and promote the interests of the IOC and of the Olympic Movement in their countries and in the organisations of ...

, and the gifts were presented by Mr. Errol Clarke, Bureau Member of the FINA.

Records

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

Competition format

The competition consisted of two rounds: heats and a final. The relay teams 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.

Results

Heats

A total of sixteen countries qualified to participate. The best eight from two heats advanced to the final.

Final

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swimming at the 2016 Summer Olympics - Men's 4 x 100 metre freestyle relay Men's 4 x 100 metre freestyle relay

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

Men's events at the 2016 Summer Olympics