| | Event type

4 × 100 metres Medley Relay, Men

Date	30 July – 1 August 2021
Status	Olympic
Location	Olympic Aquatics Centre, 2-1, 2chome, Tatsumi, Koto-ku, Tatsumi-no-Mori Seaside Park, Tokyo, Japan
Participants	74 from 16 countries

Great Britain had won this event at the 2019 World Championships and were favored, especially as they had the men’s most dominant stroke swimmer in breaststroker Adam Peaty. They qualified easily, finishing second behind the surprising Italians, with the United States, always strong in relays, qualifying only seventh, which led to concern in American swimming circles that they would fall of the podium, which they had done earlier in the 4 x 200 free relay.

In the final Ryan Murphy opened the backstroke leg for the USA and put them in the lead, but Peaty was swimming the second leg for Great Britain and put them into the lead, as the USA dropped to third, also behind Italy. On the third leg Caeleb Dressel had the event’s fastest butterfly leg, putting the USA back into the lead as Britain’s James Guy could not match his pace and they dropped to second.

The anchor swimmer for the USA was Zach Apple, who had been criticized for a weak leg in the previous 4x2 relay, but he had swum that after a 100 metre freestyle semi-final. Here he redeemed himself with the fastest leg of the competition, narrowly ahead of Australia’s Kyle Chalmers (46.95 – 46.96). Apple’s anchor brought the Americans home for gold, winning in 3:26.78, taking more than a second off the world record they had set at Rio in 2016.

Behind the Americans, Great Britain held on comfortably for silver, with Italy edging out the Russian Olympic Committee team for the bronze medal. For Caeleb Dressel, this was his fifth gold medal of the 2020 Olympics, the dominant male swimming performance at Tokyo.

Pos	Competitors	NOC	R1	Final
1	United States	USA	3:32.29 (4 h1)	3:26.78 (1)	Gold
	Ryan Murphy • Michael Andrew • Caeleb Dressel • Zach Apple • Hunter Armstrong • Andrew Wilson • Tom Shields • Blake Pieroni
2	Great Britain	GBR	3:31.47 (1 h2)	3:27.51 (2)	Silver
	Luke Greenbank • Adam Peaty • James Guy • Duncan Scott • James Wilby
3	Italy	ITA	3:30.02 (1 h1)	3:29.17 (3)	Bronze
	Thomas Ceccon • Nicolò Martinenghi • Federico Burdisso • Alessandro Miressi
4	ROC	ROC	3:31.66 (2 h2)	3:29.22 (4)
	Yevgeny Rylov • Kirill Prigoda • Andrey Minakov • Kliment Kolesnikov • Grigory Tarasevich • Anton Chupkov • Mikhail Vekovishchev • Vladislav Grinev
5	Australia	AUS	3:32.08 (3 h1)	3:29.60 (5)
	Mitch Larkin • Zac Stubblety-Cook • Matthew Temple • Kyle Chalmers • David Morgan
6	Japan	JPN	3:32.02 (3 h2)	3:29.91 (6)
	Ryosuke Irie • Ryuya Mura • Naoki Mizunuma • Katsumi Nakamura
7	Canada	CAN	3:32.37 (5 h1)	3:32.42 (7)
	Markus Thormeyer • Gabe Mastromatteo • Josh Liendo • Yuri Kisil
8	People's Republic of China	CHN	3:31.72 (2 h1)	– (DQ)
	Xu Jiayu • Yan Zibei • Sun Jiajun • He Junyi
9	Poland	POL	3:32.62 (6 h1)	–
	Kacper Stokowski • Jan Kozakiewicz • Jakub Majerski • Jakub Kraska
10	France	FRA	3:33.41 (4 h2)	–
	Yohann Ndoye-Brouard • Antoine Viquerat • Léon Marchand • Mehdy Metella
11	Germany	GER	3:34.08 (5 h2)	–
	Marek Ulrich • Lucas Matzerath • Marius Kusch • Damian Wierling
12	Belarus	BLR	3:34.82 (7 h1)	–
	Mikita Tsmyh • Ilia Shymanovich • Yauhen Tsurkin • Artsiom Machekin
13	Hungary	HUN	3:34.91 (8 h1)	–
	Richárd Bohus • Tamás Takács • Hubert Kós • Péter Holoda
14	Greece	GRE	3:36.28 (6 h2)	–
	Evangelos Makrygiannis • Konstantinos Meretsolias • Andreas Vazaios • Apostolos Christou
DQ	Brazil	BRA	– (DQ h2)	–
	Guilherme Guido • Felipe Lima • Vinícius Lanza • Marcelo Chierighini
DQ	Lithuania	LTU	– (DQ h2)	–
	Danas Rapšys • Andrius Šidlauskas • Deividas Margevičius • Simonas Bilis

Round One

Date	30 July 2021 — 21:50

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time
1	–	Italy	ITA	3:30.02	Q
2	–	Great Britain	GBR	3:31.47	Q
3	–	ROC	ROC	3:31.66	Q
4	–	People's Republic of China	CHN	3:31.72	Q
5	–	Japan	JPN	3:32.02	Q
6	–	Australia	AUS	3:32.08	Q
7	–	United States	USA	3:32.29	Q
8	–	Canada	CAN	3:32.37	Q
9	–	Poland	POL	3:32.62
10	–	France	FRA	3:33.41
11	–	Germany	GER	3:34.08
12	–	Belarus	BLR	3:34.82
13	–	Hungary	HUN	3:34.91
14	–	Greece	GRE	3:36.28
DQ	–	Brazil	BRA	–
DQ	–	Lithuania	LTU	–

Heat #1

Time	21:50

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 metre Time	Split	Exchange
1	–	Italy	ITA	3:30.02	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Thomas Ceccon		–	0.63	25.76	53.20 (2)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Nicolò Martinenghi		–	0.03	27.13	57.94 (1)	1:51.14 (=1)
Butterfly	–	Federico Burdisso		–	0.29	23.80	51.46 (4)	2:42.60 (1)
Freestyle	–	Alessandro Miressi		–	0.45	22.70	47.42 (1)	– (–)
2	–	People's Republic of China	CHN	3:31.72	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Xu Jiayu		–	0.54	25.42	52.82 (1)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Yan Zibei		–	0.25	27.22	58.32 (3)	1:51.14 (=1)
Butterfly	–	Sun Jiajun		–	0.37	23.69	51.81 (5)	2:42.95 (2)
Freestyle	–	He Junyi		–	0.49	23.20	48.77 (7)	– (–)
3	–	Australia	AUS	3:32.08	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Mitch Larkin		–	0.61	25.88	53.46 (3)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Zac Stubblety-Cook		–	0.18	27.73	59.11 (4)	1:52.57 (3)
Butterfly	–	David Morgan		–	0.18	24.21	51.97 (7)	2:44.54 (4)
Freestyle	–	Kyle Chalmers		–	0.36	22.73	47.54 (2)	– (–)
4	–	United States	USA	3:32.29	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Hunter Armstrong		–	0.62	25.70	53.51 (=4)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Andrew Wilson		–	0.31	27.82	59.20 (5)	1:52.71 (4)
Butterfly	–	Tom Shields		–	0.22	23.46	51.33 (3)	2:44.04 (3)
Freestyle	–	Blake Pieroni		–	0.36	22.86	48.25 (5)	– (–)
5	–	Canada	CAN	3:32.37	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Markus Thormeyer		–	0.65	25.96	53.66 (6)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Gabe Mastromatteo		–	0.31	27.33	59.97 (7)	1:53.63 (5)
Butterfly	–	Josh Liendo		–	0.03	23.46	50.92 (2)	2:44.55 (5)
Freestyle	–	Yuri Kisil		–	0.08	22.70	47.82 (3)	– (–)
6	–	Poland	POL	3:32.62	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Kacper Stokowski		–	0.57	26.15	54.67 (7)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Jan Kozakiewicz		–	0.26	27.61	59.24 (6)	1:53.91 (7)
Butterfly	–	Jakub Majerski		–	0.19	23.35	50.66 (1)	2:44.57 (6)
Freestyle	–	Jakub Kraska		–	0.18	22.80	48.05 (4)	– (–)
7	–	Belarus	BLR	3:34.82	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Mikita Tsmyh		–	0.62	26.22	55.50 (8)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Ilia Shymanovich		–	-0.01	26.39	58.20 (2)	1:53.70 (6)
Butterfly	–	Yauhen Tsurkin		–	0.35	24.09	52.38 (8)	2:46.08 (8)
Freestyle	–	Artsiom Machekin		–	0.14	23.01	48.74 (6)	– (–)
8	–	Hungary	HUN	3:34.91	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Richárd Bohus		–	0.54	25.69	53.51 (=4)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Tamás Takács		–	0.18	27.88	1:00.57 (8)	1:54.08 (8)
Butterfly	–	Hubert Kós		–	0.07	23.77	51.94 (6)	2:46.02 (7)
Freestyle	–	Péter Holoda		–	0.14	22.53	48.89 (8)	– (–)

Heat #2

Time	22:00

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 metre Time	Split	Exchange
1	–	Great Britain	GBR	3:31.47	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Luke Greenbank		–	0.60	26.20	53.79 (4)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	James Wilby		–	0.22	27.01	59.16 (2)	1:52.95 (4)
Butterfly	–	James Guy		–	0.32	23.70	50.77 (1)	2:43.72 (1)
Freestyle	–	Duncan Scott		–	0.24	22.75	47.75 (2)	– (–)
2	–	ROC	ROC	3:31.66	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Grigory Tarasevich		–	0.53	25.83	53.20 (=2)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Anton Chupkov		–	0.38	28.09	59.55 (3)	1:52.75 (2)
Butterfly	–	Mikhail Vekovishchev		–	0.26	23.57	51.20 (2)	2:43.95 (2)
Freestyle	–	Vladislav Grinev		–	0.23	22.42	47.71 (1)	– (–)
3	–	Japan	JPN	3:32.02	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Ryosuke Irie		–	0.52	25.77	53.20 (=2)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Ryuya Mura		–	0.12	28.31	59.62 (4)	1:52.82 (3)
Butterfly	–	Naoki Mizunuma		–	0.28	23.71	51.42 (3)	2:44.24 (3)
Freestyle	–	Katsumi Nakamura		–	0.19	22.61	47.78 (3)	– (–)
4	–	France	FRA	3:33.41	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Yohann Ndoye-Brouard		–	0.58	25.50	52.77 (1)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Antoine Viquerat		–	-0.01	27.59	59.94 (5)	1:52.71 (1)
Butterfly	–	Léon Marchand		–	0.21	23.85	52.05 (4)	2:44.76 (4)
Freestyle	–	Mehdy Metella		–	0.23	22.93	48.65 (6)	– (–)
5	–	Germany	GER	3:34.08	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Marek Ulrich		–	0.61	26.12	54.52 (7)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Lucas Matzerath		–	0.24	27.34	58.70 (1)	1:53.22 (5)
Butterfly	–	Marius Kusch		–	0.33	23.97	52.38 (5)	2:45.60 (6)
Freestyle	–	Damian Wierling		–	0.14	23.19	48.48 (5)	– (–)
6	–	Greece	GRE	3:36.28	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Evangelos Makrygiannis		–	0.61	26.08	54.07 (5)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Konstantinos Meretsolias		–	0.45	27.88	1:00.62 (6)	1:54.69 (8)
Butterfly	–	Andreas Vazaios		–	0.29	24.59	53.36 (6)	2:48.05 (8)
Freestyle	–	Apostolos Christou		–	0.20	22.42	48.23 (4)	– (–)
DQ	–	Brazil	BRA	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Guilherme Guido		–	[0.61]	[25.87]	[54.11] ([6])	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Felipe Lima		–	[-0.08]	[27.35]	[59.25] ([3])	[1:53.36] ([6])
Butterfly	–	Vinícius Lanza		–	–	[23.98]	[51.64] ([4])	[2:45.00] ([5])
Freestyle	–	Marcelo Chierighini		–	–	[21.87]	– (–)	– (–)
DQ	–	Lithuania	LTU	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Danas Rapšys		–	[0.59]	[26.61]	[54.71] ([8])	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Andrius Šidlauskas		–	[-0.08]	[27.05]	[59.35] ([4])	[1:54.06] ([7])
Butterfly	–	Deividas Margevičius		–	–	[23.72]	[51.79] ([5])	[2:45.85] ([7])
Freestyle	–	Simonas Bilis		–	–	[22.75]	– (–)	– (–)

Final Round

Date	1 August 2021 — 11:36

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 metre Time	Split	Exchange
1	–	United States	USA	3:26.78	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	WR
Backstroke	–	Ryan Murphy		–	0.50	25.21	52.31 (1)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Michael Andrew		–	0.18	26.69	58.49 (4)	1:50.80 (3)
Butterfly	–	Caeleb Dressel		–	0.23	22.68	49.03 (1)	2:39.83 (1)
Freestyle	–	Zach Apple		–	0.04	21.94	46.95 (1)	– (–)
2	–	Great Britain	GBR	3:27.51	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Luke Greenbank		–	0.57	25.88	53.63 (7)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Adam Peaty		–	0.26	26.01	56.53 (1)	1:50.16 (1)
Butterfly	–	James Guy		–	0.29	23.25	50.27 (2)	2:40.43 (2)
Freestyle	–	Duncan Scott		–	0.29	22.48	47.08 (5)	– (–)
3	–	Italy	ITA	3:29.17	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Thomas Ceccon		–	0.62	25.81	52.52 (2)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Nicolò Martinenghi		–	0.15	27.24	58.11 (2)	1:50.63 (2)
Butterfly	–	Federico Burdisso		–	0.35	23.70	51.07 (7)	2:41.70 (3)
Freestyle	–	Alessandro Miressi		–	0.37	22.35	47.47 (6)	– (–)
4	–	ROC	ROC	3:29.22	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Yevgeny Rylov		–	0.53	25.68	52.82 (4)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Kirill Prigoda		–	0.11	27.09	59.06 (7)	1:51.88 (6)
Butterfly	–	Andrey Minakov		–	0.25	23.29	50.31 (3)	2:42.19 (4)
Freestyle	–	Kliment Kolesnikov		–	0.31	22.23	47.03 (3)	– (–)
5	–	Australia	AUS	3:29.60	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Mitch Larkin		–	0.57	26.06	53.19 (6)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Zac Stubblety-Cook		–	0.33	27.75	58.67 (5)	1:51.86 (5)
Butterfly	–	Matthew Temple		–	0.29	23.45	50.78 (4)	2:42.64 (5)
Freestyle	–	Kyle Chalmers		–	0.31	22.56	46.96 (2)	– (–)
6	–	Japan	JPN	3:29.91	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Ryosuke Irie		–	0.56	25.69	53.05 (5)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Ryuya Mura		–	0.03	27.79	58.94 (6)	1:51.99 (7)
Butterfly	–	Naoki Mizunuma		–	0.23	23.54	50.88 (5)	2:42.87 (6)
Freestyle	–	Katsumi Nakamura		–	0.17	22.19	47.04 (4)	– (–)
7	–	Canada	CAN	3:32.42	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Markus Thormeyer		–	0.65	26.21	53.69 (8)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Gabe Mastromatteo		–	0.27	27.53	59.67 (8)	1:53.36 (8)
Butterfly	–	Josh Liendo		–	0.09	23.49	51.02 (6)	2:44.38 (7)
Freestyle	–	Yuri Kisil		–	0.06	22.99	48.04 (7)	– (–)
DQ	–	People's Republic of China	CHN	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Xu Jiayu		–	[0.56]	[25.40]	[52.77] ([3])	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Yan Zibei		–	[0.29]	[27.31]	[58.35] ([3])	[1:51.12] ([4])
Butterfly	–	Sun Jiajun		–	[0.32]	[23.54]	[51.76] ([7])	[2:42.88] ([7])
Freestyle	–	He Junyi		–	–	[23.15]	– (–)	– (–)