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

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Records

Medalists

Pre Olympic buildup

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.cite news| url = http://www.abc.net.au/sport/columns/200611/s1793724.htm?swimming | title = Ian Thorpe - Career at a glance| publisher = Australian Broadcasting Corporation | date = 2006-11-21| accessdate = 2006-11-22] 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". [cite news |first = Mark|last = Bannerman|title = Thorpe's tumble divides nation |url = http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2004/s1076520.htm |publisher = Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date = 2004-03-29 |accessdate = 2006-11-14] 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. This generated ethical debate as to whether Stevens' decision had been bought, and criticism against Thorpe. [cite news |first = Mark|last = Bannerman|title = Stevens announcement raises financial questions for world sport |url = http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2004/s1095187.htm |format = The 7.30 report, transcript |publisher = Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date = 2004-04-29 |accessdate = 2006-11-14] [Hunter (2004), pp. 354-359.]

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. [cite news |first = |last = |title = No mistakes as Thorpe launches 400 m defence |url= http://www.abc.net.au/sport/content/200408/s1176661.htm|format = |publisher = Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date =2004-08-14 |accessdate = 2006-11-16]

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. [cite news |title = Thorpe, Hackett quinella 400 m free |url= http://www.abc.net.au/sport/content/200408/s1176720.htm|publisher = Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date =2004-08-15 |accessdate = 2006-11-16] [Hunter (2004), pp. 384-388.]

Notes

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

Heats

Heat 1

# 4:01.99
# 4:03.71
# 4:08.28
# 4:11.99
# 4:15.32
# 4:16.91
# 4:22.14

Heat 2

# 3:56.52
# 3:57.29
# 3:59.86
# 3:59.89
# 4:01.68
# 4:02.76
# 4:03.21
# 4:06.85

Heat 3

# 3:56.65
# 3:57.26
# 3:58.36
# 3:59.10
# 3:59.38
# 3:59.96
# 4:02.87
# Disqualified or excluded

Heat 4

# 3:47.72 -Q
# 3:47.77 -Q
# 3:50.73
# 3:50.81
# 3:52.06
# 3:53.41
# 3:54.41
# 3:54.78

Heat 5

# 3:46.36 -Q
# 3:48.71 -Q
# 3:49.05 -Q
# 3:50.97
# 3:51.09
# 3:51.73
# 3:51.97
# , Canada 3:54.27

Heat 6

# , Australia 3:46.55 -Q
# , United States 3:46.90 -Q
# , Greece 3:48.77 -Q
# , Poland 3:49.22
# , Germany 3:49.66
# , Italy 3:50.55
# 3:52.39
# , Great Britain 3:52.41

Heat rankings

# Grant Hackett, Australia 3:46.36 -Q
# Ian Thorpe, Australia 3:46.55 -Q
# Larsen Jensen, United States 3:46.90 -Q
# Massimiliano Rosolino, Italy 3:47.72 -Q
# Klete Keller, United States 3:47.77 -Q
# Yuri Prilukov, Russia 3:48.71 -Q
# Spyridon Gianniotis, Greece 3:48.77 -Q
# Takeshi Matsuda, Japan 3:49.05 -Q Asian Record
# Przemysław Stańczyk, Poland 3:49.22
# Christian Hein, Germany 3:49.66
# Emiliano Brembilla, Italy 3:50.55
# Nicolas Rostoucher, France 3:50.73
# Andrew Hurd, Canada 3:50.81
# Łukasz Drzewiński, Poland 3:50.97
# Jacob Carstensen, Denmark 3:51.09
# Dragos Coman, Romania 3:51.73
# Adam Faulkner, Great Britain 3:51.97
# Heiko Hell, Germany 3:52.06
# Marcos Rivera, Spain 3:52.39
# Graeme Smith, Great Britain 3:52.41
# Serhii Phyesenko, Ukraine 3:53.41
# Mark Johnston, Canada 3:54.27
# Ricardo Monasterio, Venezuela 3:54.41
# Dimitrios Manganas, Greece 3:54.78
# Giancarlo Zolezzi, Chile 3:56.52
# Lin Zhang, China 3:56.65
# Juan Martin Pereyra, Argentina 3:57.26
# Moss Burmester, New Zealand 3:57.29
# Leonardo Salinas Saldana, Mexico 3:58.36
# Mahrez Mebarek, Algeria 3:59.10
# Bojan Zdesar, Slovenia 3:59.38
# , Bulgaria 3:59.86
# Charnvudth Saengsri, Thailand 3:59.89
# Bruno Bonfim, Brazil 3:59.96
# Victor Rogut, Republic of Moldova 4:01.68
# Miguel Mendoza, Philippines 4:01.99
# Nenad Buljan, Croatia 4:02.76
# Boldizsar Kiss, Hungary 4:02.87
# Martin Kutscher, Uruguay 4:03.21
# Te Tung Chen, Chinese Taipei 4:03.71
# Aytekin Mindan, Turkey 4:06.85
# Emanuele Nicolini, San Marino 4:08.28
# Anas Sameer N H Abuyousuf, Qatar 4:11.99
# Vasily Danilov, Kyrgyzstan 4:15.32
# Sergey Tsoy, Uzbekistan 4:16.91
# Neil Agius, Malta 4:22.14
# Tae-Hwan Park, Korea Disqualified or excluded

Final

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

References