| Women's 4 × 100 metre medley relay at the Games of the XXVII Olympiad | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Sydney International Aquatic Centre | |||||||||
| Date | September 22, 2000 (heats) September 23, 2000 (final) | |||||||||
| Competitors | 81 from 18 nations | |||||||||
| Winning time | 3:58.30 WR | |||||||||
| Medalists | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| ← 19962004 → | ||||||||||
| Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Freestyle | ||
| 50 m | men | women |
| 100 m | men | women |
| 200 m | men | women |
| 400 m | men | women |
| 800 m | women | |
| 1500 m | men | |
| Backstroke | ||
| 100 m | men | women |
| 200 m | men | women |
| Breaststroke | ||
| 100 m | men | women |
| 200 m | men | women |
| Butterfly | ||
| 100 m | men | women |
| 200 m | men | women |
| Individual medley | ||
| 200 m | men | women |
| 400 m | men | women |
| Freestyle relay | ||
| 4 × 100 m | men | women |
| 4 × 200 m | men | women |
| Medley relay | ||
| 4 × 100 m | men | women |
The women's 4 × 100 metre medley relay event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 22–23 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia.
The U.S. women's team established a new world record to defend their Olympic title in the event for the third consecutive streak. Leading the race from the start, Barbara Bedford (1:01.39), Megan Quann (1:06.29), Jenny Thompson (57.25), and Dara Torres (53.37) put together in a sterling time of 3:58.30 to clear the four-minute barrier and to smash China's six-year-old world record by 3.37 seconds. Capturing another relay title for the Americans, Thompson also picked up her eighth gold medal and tenth career as the nation's most successful female athlete in Olympic history.
The Aussie team of Dyana Calub (1:01.83), Leisel Jones (1:08.08), Petria Thomas (57.39), and Susie O'Neill (54.29) finished behind their greatest rivals by over three seconds, but powered home with the silver in an Oceanian record of 4:01.59. Meanwhile, Japan's Mai Nakamura (1:02.08), Masami Tanaka (1:08.65), Junko Onishi (58.72), and Sumika Minamoto (54.71) moved from fifth at the start to produce a spectacular fashion for the bronze in a national record of 4:04.16, holding off a mighty German team of Antje Buschschulte (1:02.05), Sylvia Gerasch (1:08.67), Franziska van Almsick (59.67), and Katrin Meissner (54.04) by 17-hundredths of a second, a time of 4:04.33.
South Africa's Charlene Wittstock (1:02.74), Sarah Poewe (1:07.83), Mandy Loots (59.81), and Helene Muller (54.77) established an African standard to strike the field with a fifth-place effort in 4:05.15. Canada (4:07.55), Great Britain (4:07.61), and China (4:07.83) completed a close finish at the rear of the championship finale.
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record |  China (CHN)He Cihong (1:00.16) Dai Guohong (1:09.04) Liu Limin (58.66) Le Jingyi (53.81) |
4:01.67 | Rome, Italy | 10 September 1994 | |
| Olympic record |  United States (USA)Lea Loveless (1:00.82) Anita Nall (1:08.67) Crissy Ahmann-Leighton (58.58) Jenny Thompson (54.47) |
4:02.54 | Barcelona, Spain | 30 July 1992 |
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 23 | Final | Barbara Bedford (1:01.39) Megan Quann (1:06.29) Jenny Thompson (57.25) Dara Torres (53.37) |
United States |
3:58.30 | WR |
Results
Heats
Final
| Rank | Lane | Nation | Swimmers | Time | Time behind | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
6 | United States |
Barbara Bedford (1:01.39) Megan Quann (1:06.29) Jenny Thompson (57.25) Dara Torres (53.37) |
3:58.30 | WR | |
 |
4 |  Australia |
Dyana Calub (1:01.83) Leisel Jones (1:08.08) Petria Thomas (57.39) Susie O'Neill (54.29) |
4:01.59 | 3.29 | OC |
 |
5 |  Japan |
Mai Nakamura (1:02.08) Masami Tanaka (1:08.65) Junko Onishi (58.72) Sumika Minamoto (54.71) |
4:04.16 | 5.86 | NR |
| 4 | 3 |  Germany |
Antje Buschschulte (1:02.05) Sylvia Gerasch (1:08.57) Franziska van Almsick (59.67) Katrin Meissner (54.04) |
4:04.33 | 6.03 | NR |
| 5 | 2 |  South Africa |
Charlene Wittstock (1:02.74) Sarah Poewe (1:07.83) Mandy Loots (59.81) Helene Muller (54.77) |
4:05.15 | 6.85 | AF |
| 6 | 8 |  Canada |
Kelly Stefanyshyn (1:02.73) Christin Petelski (1:09.14) Jen Button (1:00.13) Marianne Limpert (55.55) |
4:07.55 | 9.23 | NR |
| 7 | 7 |  Great Britain |
Katy Sexton (1:02.05) Heidi Earp (1:10.25) Sue Rolph (1:00.05) Karen Pickering (55.26) |
4:07.61 | 9.31 | NR |
| 8 | 1 |  China |
Zhan Shu (1:02.70) Qi Hui (1:09.40) Liu Limin (59.33) Han Xue (56.40) |
4:07.83 | 9.53 |
References
- "Swimming schedule". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 14 September 2000. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
- Fitzpatrick, Frank (23 September 2000). "U.S. Swimmers Didn't Take A Back Seat Australia Was Expected To Dominate In The Pool At This Olympics. The Americans Proved That Wrong". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on February 15, 2016. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
- Clarey, Christopher (23 September 2000). "Sydney 2000: Swimming; U.S. Makes Biggest, and the Final, Waves". New York Times. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
- "More gold: U.S. medley teams race to world records". Sports Illustrated. CNN. 23 September 2000. Archived from the original on June 29, 2013. Retrieved 28 June 2013.
- "Thompson wins eighth gold medal". ESPN. 22 September 2000. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
- Betti, Leeroy (25 September 2000). "Japan improves record in the pool". The Japan Times. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
- ^ Whitten, Phillip (23 September 2000). "Olympic Day 8 Finals – Complete". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 15 June 2013. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
- ^ "Sydney 2000: Swimming – Women's 4×100m Medley Relay Heats" (PDF). Sydney 2000. LA84 Foundation. pp. 366–367. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
