The men's 400 metre freestyle event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 9–10 August at the
Beijing National Aquatics Center
The National Aquatics Centre (), and colloquially known as the Water Cube () and the Ice Cube (), is an aquatics center at the Olympic Green in Beijing, China.
The facility was originally constructed to host the aquatics competitions at the ...
in
Beijing, China
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Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
.
Reigning world champion
Park Tae-Hwan
Park Tae-hwan (, ; born September 27, 1989) is a South Korean competitive swimmer who is an Olympic gold medalist and world champion. He has four Olympic medals, five world titles, and 20 Asian Games medals. He won a gold medal in the 400-m ...
made an Olympic milestone to become South Korea's first ever gold medalist in swimming. He powered past the field to an unexpected triumph in an Asian record of 3:41.86.
Coming from sixth place in the final lap, China's
Zhang Lin delighted the home crowd with a silver-medal effort in 3:42.44. Meanwhile, U.S. swimmer
Larsen Jensen
Larsen Alan Jensen (born September 1, 1985) is an American former competition swimming (sport), swimmer and a two-time Olympic medalist.
Career
At the 2003 World Championships, Jensen earned a silver medal in the 800-meter freestyle, his first ...
set a new American record of 3:42.78 to take the bronze.
American
Peter Vanderkaay
Peter William Vanderkaay (born February 12, 1984) is an American former competition swimmer who specialized in middle-distance freestyle events and is a four-time Olympic medalist. He was a member of the United States Olympic team in 2004, 2008, ...
delivered a strong swim with a fourth-place effort in 3:43.11, just 0.35 of a second ahead of Tunisia's
Oussama Mellouli
Oussama "Ous" Mellouli ( ar, أسامة الملولي; born 16 February 1984) is a Tunisian swimmer who competes in the freestyle and medley events. He is a three-time Olympic medalist, is an African record holder, and trains with the USC Tr ...
, who established a new African record of 3:43.45. Leading the field in the first 100 metres, Australia's
Grant Hackett
Grant George Hackett OAM (born 9 May 1980) is an Australian swimmer, most famous for winning the men's 1500 metres freestyle race at both the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. This achievement has led him t ...
, the silver medalist in the event from
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
, could not keep the pace over the final laps, and settled only for sixth place with a time of 3:43.84. Russian duo
Yuri Prilukov
Yury Aleksandrovich Prilukov (russian: Юрий Александрович Прилуков; born 14 June 1984) is a freestyle swimmer from Russia, who specializes in long distance swimming.
Prilukov was born in Sverdlovsk. He is a five-time ...
(3:43.97) and
Nikita Lobintsev
Nikita Konstantinovich Lobintsev (russian: Никита Константинович Лобинцев; born 21 November 1988 in Yekaterinburg) is a Russian freestyle swimmer, who won the silver medal in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay at the 2 ...
(3:48.29) rounded out the final.
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Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
Results
Heats
Final
References
External links
Official Olympic Report
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swimming At The 2008 Summer Olympics - Men's 400 Metre Freestyle
Men's freestyle 0400 metre
Men's events at the 2008 Summer Olympics