| Women's 4 × 100 metre medley relay at the Games of the XXXI Olympiad | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Olympic Aquatics Stadium | |||||||||
| Dates | 12 August 2016 (heats) 13 August 2016 (final) | |||||||||
| Competitors | 76 from 16 nations | |||||||||
| Teams | 16 | |||||||||
| Winning time | 3:53.13 | |||||||||
| Medalists | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| ← 20122020 → | ||||||||||
| Swimming at the 2016 Summer Olympics | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Qualification | ||
| 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 |
| Marathon | ||
| 10 km | men | women |
The women's 4 × 100 metre medley relay event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place on 12–13 August at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. By winning gold, the U.S. women brought home America's 1000th gold medal in the nation's Summer Olympics history.
Summary
The U.S. women's team outlasted the rest of the field to solidify its Olympic title defense in the medley relay final with the help of a freestyle anchor leg from Simone Manuel. Leading from the start, the foursome of Kathleen Baker (59.00), Lilly King (1:05.70), Dana Vollmer (56.00), and Manuel (52.43) put together a perfect ending with a final time of 3:53.13 to give the Americans their tenth gold medal in this event, and their thousandth overall in Summer Olympic history.
Australia's Emily Seebohm (58.83), Taylor McKeown (1:07.05), and Emma McKeon (56.95) struggled to hold on their momentum throughout the race, until Cate Campbell jumped into the pool at the final exchange. Then, Campbell produced a freestyle anchor split of 52.17 to deliver the Australian relay team a silver medal in 3:55.00. After winning the 50 m freestyle title an hour earlier, anchor Pernille Blume (53.21) helped her fellow Danish swimmers Mie Nielsen (58.75), Rikke Møller Pedersen (1:06.62), and Jeanette Ottesen (56.43) shatter the European record for the bronze in 3:55.01, a hundredth of a second behind Australia.
China's Fu Yuanhui (59.53), Shi Jinglin (1:06.00), Lu Ying (56.49), and Zhu Menghui (53.16) slipped off the podium to fourth in 3:55.18, while the Canadian combination of Kylie Masse (58.77), Rachel Nicol (1:06.81), Penny Oleksiak (56.75), and Chantal van Landeghem (53.16) established a national record of 3:55.49 to take the fifth spot. Russia's Anastasia Fesikova (59.49), Yuliya Yefimova (1:04.98), Svetlana Chimrova (57.54), and Veronika Popova (53.65) finished sixth with a 3:55.66, holding off the British quartet of Georgia Davies (59.43), Chloe Tutton (1:06.43), Siobhan-Marie O’Connor (57.47), and Francesca Halsall (53.63) by 1.3 seconds, a seventh-place time in 3:56.96. Meanwhile, Italy (3:59.50), anchored by freestyle swimmer and four-time Olympian Federica Pellegrini, rounded out the championship field.
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record |  United States (USA)Missy Franklin (58.50) Rebecca Soni (1:04.82) Dana Vollmer (55.48) Allison Schmitt (53.25) |
3:52.05 | London, United Kingdom | 4 August 2012 | |
| Olympic record |  United States (USA)Missy Franklin (58.50) Rebecca Soni (1:04.82) Dana Vollmer (55.48) Allison Schmitt (53.25) |
3:52.05 | London, United Kingdom | 4 August 2012 |
Competition format
The competition consisted of two rounds: heats and a final. The relay teams with the best 8 times in the heats advanced to the final. Swim-offs were used as necessary to break ties for advancement to the next round.
Results
Heats
A total of sixteen countries have qualified to participate. The best eight from two heats advanced to the final.
Final
| Rank | Lane | Nation | Swimmers | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
4 | United States |
Kathleen Baker (59.00) Lilly King (1:05.70) Dana Vollmer (56.00) Simone Manuel (52.43) |
3:53.13 | |
 |
2 |  Australia |
Emily Seebohm (58.83) Taylor McKeown (1:07.05) Emma McKeon (56.95) Cate Campbell (52.17) |
3:55.00 | |
 |
3 |  Denmark |
Mie Nielsen (58.75) Rikke Møller Pedersen (1:06.62) Jeanette Ottesen (56.43) Pernille Blume (53.21) |
3:55.01 | EU |
| 4 | 7 |  China |
Fu Yuanhui (59.53) Shi Jinglin (1:06.00) Lu Ying (56.49) Zhu Menghui (53.16) |
3:55.18 | |
| 5 | 5 |  Canada |
Kylie Masse (58.77) Rachel Nicol (1:06.81) Penny Oleksiak (56.75) Chantal van Landeghem (53.16) |
3:55.49 | NR |
| 6 | 6 |  Russia |
Anastasia Fesikova (59.49) Yulia Efimova (1:04.98) Svetlana Chimrova (57.54) Veronika Popova (53.65) |
3:55.66 | NR |
| 7 | 8 |  Great Britain |
Georgia Davies (59.43) Chloe Tutton (1:06.43) Siobhan-Marie O’Connor (57.47) Francesca Halsall (53.63) |
3:56.96 | NR |
| 8 | 1 |  Italy |
Carlotta Zofkova (1:01.29) Arianna Castiglioni (1:06.65) Ilaria Bianchi (58.21) Federica Pellegrini (53.35) |
3:59.50 |
References
- ^ "Women's 4×100m Medley Relay". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on 1 September 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
- Armstrong, Paul (13 August 2016). "Color no barrier: Simone Manuel steers Team USA to 1,000th Olympic gold at Rio 2016". CNN. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
- Fenno, Nathan (13 August 2016). "Simone Manuel helps U.S. to gold in 400 medley relay". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
- "Campbell fires as Aussies win silver in women's 4x100m medley". ESPN. 26 August 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
- "Denmark gets first gold as Blume wins 50m freestyle". The Local. 13 August 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
- ^ "USA Women Earn 10th 400 Medley Relay Gold; 1,000th Gold Medal In USA Olympic Summer Games History". Swimming World Magazine. 13 August 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
- Ng, Callum (13 August 2016). "Canadian relay women fall short of medal on final night of swimming". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
- "Rio 2016 Olympics: Team GB win 4x100m medley relay silver as Michael Phelps claims 23rd gold". London Evening Standard. 13 August 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
- ^ Auerbach, Nicole (4 August 2012). "U.S. women set world record, win gold in medley relay". USA Today. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
- ^ Crouse, Karen (5 August 2012). "U.S. Women Set Mark in Medley Relay". New York Times. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
