The men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay event at the
2020 Summer Olympics
The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July.
Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...
was held on 27 and 28 July 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.
It will be the event's twenty-sixth consecutive appearance, having been held at every edition since 1908.
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
entered the final as favourites, bosting the gold and silver medalists from the individual 200 metres freestyle,
Tom Dean and
Duncan Scott and 2015 World champion at the distance
James Guy. Despite Dean surprisingly giving up almost a second to the United States swimmer
Kieran Smith
Kieran Smith is an American swimmer specializing in freestyle and individual medley events. He currently co-holds short course world records in the 4×200 meter freestyle relay and the 4×100 meter medley relay. He is the Americas record ho ...
on the opening leg, the British team's cumulative depth eventually told, as they duly delivered gold in the fastest ever time in a textile suit, just three hundredth's of a second outside the world record. It was the first British win in the event since
1908
Events
January
* January 1 – The British ''Nimrod'' Expedition led by Ernest Shackleton sets sail from New Zealand on the ''Nimrod'' for Antarctica.
* January 3 – A total solar eclipse is visible in the Pacific Ocean, and is the 46 ...
.
The medals for the competition were presented by
David Haggerty,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
;
IOC Member, and the medalists' bouquets were presented by
Khaleel Al Jabir
Khalil, Khelil, or Khaleel may refer to:
People
* Khalil (Pashtun tribe)
* Kahlil Gibran (1883–1931), Lebanese-American writer, poet, visual artist, and Lebanese nationalist
* Khalil (scholar), 19th century Islamic scholar in the Emirate of Ha ...
,
Qatar
Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...
;
FINA Bureau Member.
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
No new Olympic or World records were set during the competition.
Great Britain set a
European record in the final, the third-fastest time ever (behind only the Olympic and World records) and the fastest time ever swum in a textile suit. Israel and Switzerland (twice) set national records.
Qualification
The top 12 teams in
this event at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships qualified for the Olympics. An additional 4 teams will qualify through having the fastest times at approved qualifying events during the qualifying period (1 March 2019 to 30 May 2020).
Competition format
The competition consists of two rounds: heats and a final. The relay teams with the best 8 times in the heats advance to the final. Swim-offs are used as necessary to break ties for advancement to the next round.
Schedule
All times are Japan Standard Time
, or , is the standard time zone in Japan, 9 hours ahead of UTC ( UTC+09:00). Japan does not observe daylight saving time, though its introduction has been debated on several occasions. During World War II, the time zone was often referred to a ...
(UTC+9)[
]
Results
Heats
The relay teams with the top 8 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the final.
Final
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics - Men's 4 x 200 metre freestyle relay
Men's 4 x 200 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 2020 Summer Olympics