The men's 200 metre individual medley event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 11–13 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 ...
.
U.S. swimmer
Michael Phelps
Michael Fred Phelps II (born June 30, 1985) is an American former competitive swimmer. He is the most successful and most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold me ...
blasted a new world record to defend his title in the event, and more importantly, claim his sixth Olympic gold, twelfth career, and fourteenth overall medal. He established a sterling time of 1:54.23 to lower his prior standard from the Olympic trials by almost six-tenths of a second (0.60). Hungary's
László Cseh
László Cseh (; born 3 December 1985) is a retired Hungarian competitive swimmer and six-time Olympic medalist. He is a 33-time European Champion. His father, László Cseh Sr., also represented Hungary at the Olympics in swimming. In 2020 ...
added a third silver to his collection, finishing with a European record of 1:56.52. Phelps' teammate and archrival
Ryan Lochte
Ryan Steven Lochte ( ; born August 3, 1984) is an American professional swimmer and 12-time Olympic medalist. Along with Natalie Coughlin, Dara Torres, and Jenny Thompson, he is the second-most decorated swimmer in Olympic history measured by to ...
earned a bronze in a time of 1:56.53, just a hundredth of a second (0.01) behind Cseh. The podium placements also replicated the results of the
400 m individual medley, held on the first day of the Games.
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Brazil's
Thiago Pereira
Thiago Machado Vilela Pereira (born 26 January 1986) is a retired Brazilian international competition swimmer. One of the greatest swimmers in the history of Brazil, Pereira won the silver medal in the 400-meter individual medley at the 2012 ...
finished fourth with a time of 1:58.14, and was followed in the fifth spot by Japan's
Ken Takakuwa, in an Asian record of 1:58.22. A full second later, Great Britain's
James Goddard
James Francis Goddard (born 30 March 1983) is a Seychelles-born British competitive swimmer and backstroker who represented Great Britain in the Olympics, FINA world championships and European championships, and swam for England in the Commonwe ...
posted a time of 1:59.24 to earn a sixth spot, while Canada's
Keith Beavers (1:59.43) and Goddard's teammate
Liam Tancock
Liam John Tancock (born 7 May 1985) is an English former competitive swimmer who represented Great Britain in the Olympics, FINA world championships, and European championships, and England in the Commonwealth Games. He specialised in backstro ...
(2:00.76) rounded out the finale.
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Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
Results
Heats
Semifinals
Semifinal 1
Semifinal 2
Final
References
External links
Official Olympic Report
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swimming At The 2008 Summer Olympics - Men's 200 Metre Individual Medley
Men's individual medley 200 metre
Men's events at the 2008 Summer Olympics