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Swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's 400 metre individual medley

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Women's 400 metre individual medley
at the Games of the XXX Olympiad
A photograph of the Aquatics centre during the British Championships in March 2012.
VenueLondon Aquatics Centre
DateJuly 28, 2012 (heats & final)
Competitors36 from 29 nations
Winning time4:28.43 WR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Ye Shiwen  China
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Elizabeth Beisel  United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Li Xuanxu  China
← 2008
2016 →

The women's 400 metre individual medley event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 28 July at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom.[1]

At only 16 years of age, China's Ye Shiwen blasted a new world record to capture the Olympic title in the event. She trailed behind American teenager Elizabeth Beisel more than halfway through the race, before pulling away with a superb freestyle leg to bring home the Olympic gold medal and the world record in a sterling time of 4:28.43. Her spectacular swim also demolished the previous standard from Australia's Stephanie Rice in Beijing four years earlier by more than a second.[2][3] Meanwhile, Beisel enjoyed the race with a powerful lead on the breaststroke leg, but felt satisfied to claim the silver in 4:31.27.[4][5] Ye's teammate Li Xuanxu stormed home on the final stretch to grab a bronze in 4:32.91, edging out Hungary's early leader Katinka Hosszú (4:33.49) by more than half a second (0.50).[6]

Great Britain's home favorite Hannah Miley finished fifth in 4:34.17, while Rice, the defending Olympic champion, matched United States' Caitlin Leverenz with an unexpected sixth-place time in 4:35.49.[7][8] Spain's Mireia Belmonte García rounded out the final roster in 4:35.62.[6]

Records

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

World record  Stephanie Rice (AUS) 4:29.45 Beijing, China 10 August 2008 [9][10]
Olympic record  Stephanie Rice (AUS) 4:29.45 Beijing, China 10 August 2008

The following records were established during the competition:

Date Round Name Nationality Time Record
July 28 Final Ye Shiwen  China 4:28.43 WR

Results

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Heats

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[11]

Rank Heat Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 5 4 Elizabeth Beisel  United States 4:31.68 Q
2 3 5 Ye Shiwen  China 4:31.73 Q
3 3 4 Katinka Hosszú  Hungary 4:33.77 Q
4 5 5 Li Xuanxu  China 4:34.28 Q
5 5 3 Mireia Belmonte García  Spain 4:34.70 Q
6 4 4 Hannah Miley  Great Britain 4:34.98 Q
7 4 5 Stephanie Rice  Australia 4:35.76 Q
8 4 3 Caitlin Leverenz  United States 4:36.09 Q
9 3 3 Zsuzsanna Jakabos  Hungary 4:37.37
10 5 1 Anja Klinar  Slovenia 4:38.20
11 5 2 Aimee Willmott  Great Britain 4:38.87
12 4 6 Miyu Otsuka  Japan 4:39.13
13 5 6 Blair Evans  Australia 4:40.42
14 4 7 Stina Gardell  Sweden 4:41.33
15 3 6 Barbora Zavádová  Czech Republic 4:41.84
16 4 2 Kathryn Meaklim  South Africa 4:43.46
17 2 5 Kim Seo-yeong  South Korea 4:43.99
18 5 7 Lara Grangeon  France 4:44.28
19 3 8 Natalie Wiegersma  New Zealand 4:44.78
20 3 2 Miho Takahashi  Japan 4:45.10
21 2 4 Stephanie Horner  Canada 4:45.49
22 4 1 Stefania Pirozzi  Italy 4:45.61
23 4 8 Jördis Steinegger  Austria 4:45.80
24 3 7 Yana Martynova  Russia 4:45.94
25 3 1 Claudia Dasca Romeu  Spain 4:46.80
26 2 7 Ganna Dzerkal  Ukraine 4:48.19
27 2 6 Andreina Pinto  Venezuela 4:48.64
28 1 3 Nguyễn Thị Ánh Viên  Vietnam 4:50.32
29 1 4 Susana Escobar  Mexico 4:50.57
30 2 8 Sara Nordenstam  Norway 4:51.28
31 2 1 Karolina Szczepaniak  Poland 4:52.50
32 2 2 Sara El Bekri  Morocco 4:53.21
33 1 5 Noora Laukkanen  Finland 4:53.54
34 2 3 Georgina Bardach  Argentina 4:57.31
35 1 6 Anum Bandey  Pakistan 5:34.64 NR
5 8 Joanna Melo  Brazil DNS

Final

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Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) 5 Ye Shiwen  China 4:28.43 WR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) 4 Elizabeth Beisel  United States 4:31.27
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 6 Li Xuanxu  China 4:32.91
4 3 Katinka Hosszú  Hungary 4:33.49
5 7 Hannah Miley  Great Britain 4:34.17
6 1 Stephanie Rice  Australia 4:35.49
8 Caitlin Leverenz  United States
8 2 Mireia Belmonte García  Spain 4:35.62

References

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  1. ^ "Swimming: Results & Schedules". London 2012. NBC Olympics. 28 July 2012. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  2. ^ "Ye Shiwen wins gold in record time". ESPN. 28 July 2012. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  3. ^ Newberry, Paul (28 July 2012). "Lochte wins 400m IM in blowout; Phelps finishes 4th". London 2012. NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 7 July 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  4. ^ Powers, John (28 July 2012). "For R.I.'s Beisel, silver nearly as good as gold". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  5. ^ "Ye wins women's 400 IM; Beisel takes silver". Fox News. 28 July 2012. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  6. ^ a b "2012 London Olympics: China's Ye Shiwen Crushes World Record in 400 IM". Swimming World Magazine. 28 July 2012. Archived from the original on 2013-05-27. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  7. ^ Jones, Sam (28 July 2012). "Ye Shiwen sets world medley record at Olympics aged 16". Guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  8. ^ "Olympics swimming: Hannah Miley fifth as Ye Shiwen breaks medley world record". BBC Sport. 28 July 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-07-30. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  9. ^ Lohn, John (10 August 2008). "Return to Sender…Stephanie Rice Blasts Women's 400 IM World Record". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 5 June 2013. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
  10. ^ Johanson, Simon (10 August 2008). "Rice steams to gold and world record". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 11 August 2008.
  11. ^ "Women's 400m Individual Medley – Heats". London2012.com. London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 5 December 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
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