Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Women's 400 metre individual medley

Women's 400 metre individual medley
at the Games of the XXVII Olympiad
VenueSydney International Aquatic Centre
DateSeptember 16, 2000 (heats & final)
Competitors28 from 24 nations
Winning time4:33.59 WR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Yana Klochkova  Ukraine
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Yasuko Tajima  Japan
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Beatrice Câșlaru  Romania
← 1996
2004 →
Swimming at the
2000 Summer Olympics
Freestyle
50 mmenwomen
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
400 mmenwomen
800 mwomen
1500 mmen
Backstroke
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
Breaststroke
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
Butterfly
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
Individual medley
200 mmenwomen
400 mmenwomen
Freestyle relay
4 × 100 mmenwomen
4 × 200 mmenwomen
Medley relay
4 × 100 mmenwomen

The women's 400 metre individual medley event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 16 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia.[1]

Yana Klochkova blasted the world record to become Ukraine's first ever Olympic gold medalist in swimming. She pulled away from the rest of the field to hit the wall first with a blistering time of 4:33.59. Her spectacular swim shattered the previous global standard of 4:34.79, set by China's Chen Yan from the 1997 Chinese City Games in Shanghai, and lopped three seconds off an old, drug-tainted 1980 Olympic record from former East Germany's Petra Schneider.[2][3][4] Japan's Yasuko Tajima kept the pressure on all the way and took the silver in 4:35.96. Storming from fifth at the halfway turn, Beatrice Câșlaru raced to bronze with a Romanian record of 4:37.18 on the rear of a dominant breaststroke leg.[5][6]

For the first time in Olympic history, Kaitlin Sandeno shut out the medal podium for the Americans with a fourth-place time of 4:41.03.[2] Germany's Nicole Hetzer finished fifth in 4:43.56, while Sandeno's teammate Maddy Crippen, swimming outside in lane eight, earned a sixth spot in 4:44.63.[7] Canada's Joanne Malar (4:45.17) and Aussie favorite Jennifer Reilly (4:45.99) rounded out the historic finale.[6]

Records

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

World record  Chen Yan (CHN) 4:34.79 Shanghai, China 13 October 1997 [8]
Olympic record  Petra Schneider (GDR) 4:36.29 Moscow, Soviet Union 26 July 1980 [8]

The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.

Date Event Name Nationality Time Record
16 September Final Yana Klochkova  Ukraine 4:33.59 WR

Results

Heats

[8]

Rank Heat Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 4 4 Yana Klochkova  Ukraine 4:37.64 Q, NR
2 2 4 Yasuko Tajima  Japan 4:40.35 Q
3 4 5 Kaitlin Sandeno  United States 4:40.89 Q
4 3 5 Beatrice Câșlaru  Romania 4:41.04 Q
5 4 6 Jennifer Reilly  Australia 4:41.51 Q
6 3 4 Joanne Malar  Canada 4:42.65 Q
7 2 5 Nicole Hetzer  Germany 4:43.23 Q
8 4 3 Maddy Crippen  United States 4:44.00 Q
9 3 6 Hana Černá  Czech Republic 4:44.11
10 2 7 Oxana Verevka  Russia 4:45.07
11 2 3 Chen Yan  China 4:45.65
12 2 6 Rachel Harris  Australia 4:46.02
13 2 2 Helen Norfolk  New Zealand 4:46.42 NR
14 3 7 Lourdes Becerra  Spain 4:47.50
15 4 7 Federica Biscia  Italy 4:47.56 NR
16 3 2 Sabine Herbst  Germany 4:47.79
17 2 8 Mirjana Boševska  Macedonia 4:48.08 NR
18 4 2 Yseult Gervy  Belgium 4:48.31
19 3 3 Liu Yin  China 4:50.33
20 2 1 Artemis Dafni  Greece 4:53.52
21 1 4 Georgina Bardach  Argentina 4:54.31 NR
22 3 1 Carolyn Adel  Suriname 4:57.90
23 4 1 Lee Ji-hyun  South Korea 4:58.94
24 1 5 Jana Korbasová  Slovakia 4:59.05
25 4 8 Sia Wai Yen  Malaysia 4:59.18
26 3 8 Adi Bichman  Israel 5:06.72
27 1 3 Alexandra Zertsalova  Kyrgyzstan 5:09.03
28 1 6 Nguyen Thi Huong  Vietnam 5:26.56

Final

Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) 4 Yana Klochkova  Ukraine 4:33.59 WR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) 5 Yasuko Tajima  Japan 4:35.96 NR
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 6 Beatrice Câșlaru  Romania 4:37.18 NR
4 3 Kaitlin Sandeno  United States 4:41.03
5 1 Nicole Hetzer  Germany 4:43.56
6 8 Maddy Crippen  United States 4:44.63
7 7 Joanne Malar  Canada 4:45.17
8 2 Jennifer Reilly  Australia 4:45.99

References

  1. ^ "Swimming schedule". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 14 September 2000. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  2. ^ a b "Klochkova sets the gold standard". BBC Sport. 16 September 2000. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  3. ^ Fitzpatrick, Franz (16 September 2000). "Thorpe Wins Hearts And Gold". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on November 6, 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  4. ^ "Swimmer breaks world record, wins first gold for Ukraine". Kyiv Post. 16 September 2000. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  5. ^ "Five world records broken on first day of swimming". Sports Illustrated. CNN. 16 September 2000. Archived from the original on May 9, 2001. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  6. ^ a b Whitten, Phillip (16 September 2000). "Olympic Day 1 Finals (Complete)". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  7. ^ Fitzpatrick, Franz (17 September 2000). "Crippen Finishes A Disappointing Sixth The Villanova Student Couldn't Catch The Ukrainian Champ, Who Set A World Record". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  8. ^ a b c "Sydney 2000: Swimming – Women's 400m Individual Medley Heats" (PDF). Sydney 2000. LA84 Foundation. pp. 331–332. Retrieved 24 June 2013.