| | Event type

4 × 100 metres Freestyle Relay, Men

Date	10 – 11 August 2008
Status	Olympic
Location	Beijing Guojia Youyong Zhongxin, Beijing Aolinpike Gongyuan, Beijing
Participants	72 from 16 countries

The US men had won the first seven editions of this event at the Olympic Games but had suffered surprise defeats at both the 2000 and 2004 Games. It seemed that the balance of power that shifted back to the Americans when they won the world title in 2007. France were bronze medalists at the World Championships and, with soon to be 100 freestyle Olympic champion Alain Bernard anchoring the team, now emerged as a serious threat to the US. In the opening round, another French swimmer, Amaury Leveaux, opening with a world record of 47.76 for 100 metres, and France seemed to have a clear road to the gold.

Individual silver medalist Eamon Sullivan put Australia into the lead after the first leg, breaking Leveaux’s mark by recording a world record 47.24, but from then on it became a duel between the French and the Americans. A fine third leg from Fréd Bousquet put the French half a second ahead with 100 metres to go and left Bernard with a superb chance to clinch the victory. All this reckoned without a once-in-a-lifetime swim from American anchor Jason Lezak. Lezak would finish 0.4 of a second behind Bernard in the 100 freestyle final but here he took three quarters of a second off his French rival and guided the USA to a remarkable win in yet another world record time, also preserving Michael Phelps’s quest for eight gold medals.

Pos	Competitors	NOC	R1	Final
1	United States	USA	3:12.23 (1 h1)	3:08.24 (1)	Gold
	Michael Phelps		–	–
	Garrett Weber-Gale		–	–
	Cullen Jones		–	–
	Jason Lezak		–	–
	Nathan Adrian		–	–
	Ben Wildman-Tobriner		–	–
	Matt Grevers		–	–
2	France	FRA	3:12.36 (1 h2)	3:08.32 (2)	Silver
	Amaury Leveaux		–	–
	Fabien Gilot		–	–
	Fréd Bousquet		–	–
	Alain Bernard		–	–
	Grégory Mallet		–	–
	Boris Steimetz		–	–
3	Australia	AUS	3:12.41 (2 h1)	3:09.91 (3)	Bronze
	Eamon Sullivan		–	–
	Andrew Lauterstein		–	–
	Ashley Callus		–	–
	Matt Targett		–	–
	Leith Brodie		–	–
	Patrick Murphy		–	–
4	Italy	ITA	3:12.65 (2 h2)	3:11.48 (4)
	Alessandro Calvi		–	–
	Christian Galenda		–	–
	Marco Belotti		–	–
	Filippo Magnini		–	–
	Michele Santucci		–	–
5	Sweden	SWE	3:12.73 (3 h1)	3:11.92 (5)
	Petter Stymne		–	–
	Lars Frölander		–	–
	Stefan Nystrand		–	–
	Jonas Persson		–	–
6	Canada	CAN	3:13.68 (4 h1)	3:12.26 (6)
	Brent Hayden		–	–
	Joel Greenshields		–	–
	Colin Russell		–	–
	Rick Say		–	–
7	South Africa	RSA	3:13.06 (3 h2)	3:12.66 (7)
	Lyndon Ferns		–	–
	Darian Townsend		–	–
	Roland Schoeman		–	–
	Ryk Neethling		–	–
8	Great Britain	GBR	3:13.69 (4 h2)	3:12.87 (8)
	Simon Burnett		–	–
	Adam Brown		–	–
	Ben Hockin		–	–
	Ross Davenport		–	–
9	Russian Federation	RUS	3:14.07 (5 h2)	–
	Yevgeny Lagunov		–	–
	Andrey Grechin		–	–
	Andrey Kapralov		–	–
	Sergey Fesikov		–	–
10	Netherlands	NED	3:14.90 (5 h1)	–
	Mitja Zastrow		–	–
	Pieter van den Hoogenband		–	–
	Bas van Velthoven		–	–
	Robert Lijesen		–	–
11	New Zealand	NZL	3:15.41 (6 h1)	–
	Mark Herring		–	–
	Cam Gibson		–	–
	Willy Benson		–	–
	Orinoco Faamausili-Banse		–	–
12	People's Republic of China	CHN	3:16.16 (6 h2)	–
	Chen Zuo		–	–
	Huang Shaohua		–	–
	Lu Zhiwu		–	–
	Cai Li		–	–
13	Switzerland	SUI	3:16.80 (7 h2)	–
	Dominik Meichtry		–	–
	Karel Novy		–	–
	Flori Lang		–	–
	Adrien Perez		–	–
14	Japan	JPN	3:17.28 (7 h1)	–
	Takuro Fujii		–	–
	Hisayoshi Sato		–	–
	Masayuki Kishida		–	–
	Yoshihiro Okumura		–	–
15	Germany	GER	3:17.99 (8 h1)	–
	Steffen Deibler		–	–
	Jens Schreiber		–	–
	Benjamin Starke		–	–
	Paul Biedermann		–	–
DQ	Brazil	BRA	– (DQ h2)	–
	César Cielo Filho		–	–
	Rodrigo Castro		–	–
	Fernando Silva		–	–
	Nicolas Oliveira		–	–

Round One

Date	10 August 2008
Format	Fastest eight teams advanced to final

Pos	Lane	Team	NOC	Time
1	–	United States	USA	3:12.23	QWR
2	–	France	FRA	3:12.36	Q
3	–	Australia	AUS	3:12.41	Q
4	–	Italy	ITA	3:12.65	Q
5	–	Sweden	SWE	3:12.73	Q
6	–	South Africa	RSA	3:13.06	Q
7	–	Canada	CAN	3:13.68	Q
8	–	Great Britain	GBR	3:13.69	Q
9	–	Russian Federation	RUS	3:14.07
10	–	Netherlands	NED	3:14.90
11	–	New Zealand	NZL	3:15.41
12	–	People's Republic of China	CHN	3:16.16
13	–	Switzerland	SUI	3:16.80
14	–	Japan	JPN	3:17.28
15	–	Germany	GER	3:17.99
DQ	–	Brazil	BRA	–		1

Heat #1

Time	20:46

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 metre Time	Split	Exchange
1	–	United States	USA	3:12.23	–	–	– (4)	– (–)	QWR
Lead-off	–	Nathan Adrian		–	0.75	23.15	48.82 (4)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Cullen Jones		–	0.16	22.20	47.61 (2)	1:36.43 (2)
3rd Leg	–	Ben Wildman-Tobriner		–	0.24	22.69	48.03 (1)	2:24.46 (1)
Anchor	–	Matt Grevers		–	0.27	22.43	47.77 (3)	– (–)
2	–	Australia	AUS	3:12.41	–	–	– (5)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Andrew Lauterstein		–	0.75	23.10	48.68 (3)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Leith Brodie		–	0.35	23.08	48.42 (6)	1:37.10 (5)
3rd Leg	–	Patrick Murphy		–	0.20	23.08	48.09 (2)	2:25.19 (3)
Anchor	–	Matt Targett		–	0.25	22.29	47.22 (1)	– (–)
3	–	Sweden	SWE	3:12.73	–	–	– (3)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Stefan Nystrand		–	0.95	22.98	48.31 (2)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Petter Stymne		–	0.21	22.24	48.41 (5)	1:36.72 (4)
3rd Leg	–	Lars Frölander		–	0.17	22.76	48.35 (3)	2:25.07 (2)
Anchor	–	Jonas Persson		–	0.16	21.99	47.66 (2)	– (–)
4	–	Canada	CAN	3:13.68	–	–	– (2)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Brent Hayden		–	0.76	23.26	48.28 (1)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Joel Greenshields		–	0.36	23.05	48.06 (3)	1:36.34 (1)
3rd Leg	–	Rick Say		–	0.05	23.72	49.11 (6)	2:25.45 (4)
Anchor	–	Colin Russell		–	0.13	22.71	48.23 (4)	– (–)
5	–	Netherlands	NED	3:14.90	–	–	– (6)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Mitja Zastrow		–	0.76	23.88	49.40 (6)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Pieter van den Hoogenband		–	0.20	22.06	47.17 (1)	1:36.57 (3)
3rd Leg	–	Bas van Velthoven		–	0.23	22.76	49.08 (5)	2:25.65 (5)
Anchor	–	Robert Lijesen		–	0.15	23.14	49.25 (8)	– (–)
6	–	New Zealand	NZL	3:15.41	–	–	– (7)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Mark Herring		–	0.79	23.73	49.73 (8)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Cam Gibson		–	0.11	22.76	48.07 (4)	1:37.80 (6)
3rd Leg	–	Willy Benson		–	0.08	22.89	48.65 (4)	2:26.45 (6)
Anchor	–	Orinoco Faamausili-Banse		–	0.04	22.97	48.96 (5)	– (–)
7	–	Japan	JPN	3:17.28	–	–	– (8)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Takuro Fujii		–	0.71	23.77	49.15 (5)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Hisayoshi Sato		–	0.13	22.92	48.92 (7)	1:38.07 (7)
3rd Leg	–	Masayuki Kishida		–	0.08	23.44	50.00 (8)	2:28.07 (7)
Anchor	–	Yoshihiro Okumura		–	0.18	23.80	49.21 (7)	– (–)
8	–	Germany	GER	3:17.99	–	–	– (1)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Steffen Deibler		–	0.83	23.62	49.61 (7)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Jens Schreiber		–	0.08	23.50	49.58 (8)	1:39.19 (8)
3rd Leg	–	Benjamin Starke		–	0.13	23.49	49.65 (7)	2:28.84 (8)
Anchor	–	Paul Biedermann		–	0.28	23.55	49.15 (6)	– (–)

Heat #2

Time	20:53

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 metre Time	Split	Exchange
1	–	France	FRA	3:12.36	–	–	– (4)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Amaury Leveaux		–	0.77	23.18	47.76 (1)	– (–)	IOR
2nd Leg	–	Grégory Mallet		–	0.33	22.57	48.14 (3)	1:35.90 (1)
3rd Leg	–	Boris Steimetz		–	0.17	23.45	49.83 (8)	2:25.73 (4)
Anchor	–	Fréd Bousquet		–	0.12	21.77	46.63 (1)	– (–)
2	–	Italy	ITA	3:12.65	–	–	– (5)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Alessandro Calvi		–	0.81	23.35	48.58 (6)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Christian Galenda		–	0.27	22.51	47.67 (1)	1:36.25 (2)
3rd Leg	–	Michele Santucci		–	0.34	23.50	49.56 (7)	2:25.81 (5)
Anchor	–	Filippo Magnini		–	0.23	22.65	46.84 (2)	– (–)
3	–	South Africa	RSA	3:13.06	–	–	– (3)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Lyndon Ferns		–	0.78	22.94	48.20 (=3)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Roland Schoeman		–	0.45	22.71	48.85 (7)	1:37.05 (5)
3rd Leg	–	Ryk Neethling		–	0.35	22.69	48.51 (1)	2:25.56 (2)
Anchor	–	Darian Townsend		–	0.28	22.45	47.50 (3)	– (–)
4	–	Great Britain	GBR	3:13.69	–	–	– (1)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Simon Burnett		–	0.67	23.16	48.20 (=3)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Adam Brown		–	0.30	23.22	48.43 (4)	1:36.63 (4)
3rd Leg	–	Ben Hockin		–	0.26	23.31	48.55 (2)	2:25.18 (1)
Anchor	–	Ross Davenport		–	0.07	23.00	48.51 (5)	– (–)
5	–	Russian Federation	RUS	3:14.07	–	–	– (6)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Yevgeny Lagunov		–	0.75	23.02	48.45 (5)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Andrey Grechin		–	0.35	22.31	48.08 (2)	1:36.53 (3)
3rd Leg	–	Andrey Kapralov		–	0.58	23.46	49.07 (4)	2:25.60 (3)
Anchor	–	Sergey Fesikov		–	0.48	22.77	48.47 (4)	– (–)
6	–	People's Republic of China	CHN	3:16.16	–	–	– (7)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Chen Zuo		–	0.77	23.83	49.16 (8)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Huang Shaohua		–	0.28	23.22	48.83 (6)	1:37.99 (8)
3rd Leg	–	Lu Zhiwu		–	0.05	22.86	48.72 (3)	2:26.71 (7)
Anchor	–	Cai Li		–	0.23	23.69	49.45 (6)	– (–)
7	–	Switzerland	SUI	3:16.80	–	–	– (8)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Dominik Meichtry		–	0.68	23.48	48.96 (7)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Karel Novy		–	0.13	23.00	48.60 (5)	1:37.56 (7)
3rd Leg	–	Flori Lang		–	0.01	23.18	49.34 (5)	2:26.90 (8)
Anchor	–	Adrien Perez		–	0.15	23.57	49.90 (7)	– (–)
DQ	–	Brazil	BRA	–	–	–	– ([2])	– (–)		2
Lead-off	–	César Cielo Filho		–	[0.69]	[22.53]	[47.91] ([2])	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Rodrigo Castro		–	[0.26]	[23.62]	[49.23] ([8])	[1:37.14] ([6])
3rd Leg	–	Fernando Silva		–	[0.34]	[23.03]	[49.53] ([6])	[2:26.67] ([6])
Anchor	–	Nicolas Oliveira		–	[-0.04]	–	– (–)	– (–)

Final Round

Date	11 August 2008 — 11:27

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 metre Time	Split	Exchange
1	–	United States	USA	3:08.24	–	–	– (4)	– (–)	WR
Lead-off	–	Michael Phelps		–	0.75	23.31	47.51 (2)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Garrett Weber-Gale		–	0.06	21.89	47.02 (1)	1:34.53 (1)
3rd Leg	–	Cullen Jones		–	0.38	22.68	47.65 (4)	2:22.18 (2)
Anchor	–	Jason Lezak		–	0.04	21.50	46.06 (1)	– (–)
2	–	France	FRA	3:08.32	–	–	– (5)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Amaury Leveaux		–	0.77	23.39	47.91 (4)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Fabien Gilot		–	0.16	21.98	47.05 (2)	1:34.96 (2)
3rd Leg	–	Fréd Bousquet		–	0.08	21.96	46.63 (1)	2:21.59 (1)
Anchor	–	Alain Bernard		–	0.19	21.27	46.73 (2)	– (–)
3	–	Australia	AUS	3:09.91	–	–	– (3)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Eamon Sullivan		–	0.71	22.48	47.24 (1)	– (–)	IWR
2nd Leg	–	Andrew Lauterstein		–	0.25	22.19	47.87 (6)	1:35.11 (3)
3rd Leg	–	Ashley Callus		–	0.28	22.44	47.55 (3)	2:22.66 (3)
Anchor	–	Matt Targett		–	0.29	22.17	47.25 (3)	– (–)
4	–	Italy	ITA	3:11.48	–	–	– (6)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Alessandro Calvi		–	0.78	23.12	48.49 (7)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Christian Galenda		–	0.30	22.13	47.49 (3)	1:35.98 (5)
3rd Leg	–	Marco Belotti		–	0.13	22.81	48.23 (5)	2:24.21 (5)
Anchor	–	Filippo Magnini		–	0.17	22.65	47.27 (4)	– (–)
5	–	Sweden	SWE	3:11.92	–	–	– (2)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Petter Stymne		–	0.85	23.20	49.17 (8)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Lars Frölander		–	0.06	22.30	48.02 (7)	1:37.19 (8)
3rd Leg	–	Stefan Nystrand		–	0.17	22.18	47.25 (2)	2:24.44 (6)
Anchor	–	Jonas Persson		–	0.01	22.18	47.48 (5)	– (–)
6	–	Canada	CAN	3:12.26	–	–	– (1)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Brent Hayden		–	0.75	22.72	47.56 (3)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Joel Greenshields		–	0.14	22.68	47.77 (5)	1:35.33 (4)
3rd Leg	–	Colin Russell		–	0.08	23.13	48.49 (7)	2:23.82 (4)
Anchor	–	Rick Say		–	0.00	23.04	48.44 (8)	– (–)
7	–	South Africa	RSA	3:12.66	–	–	– (7)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Lyndon Ferns		–	0.64	22.74	48.15 (5)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Darian Townsend		–	0.26	22.27	48.11 (8)	1:36.26 (7)
3rd Leg	–	Roland Schoeman		–	0.24	22.28	48.32 (6)	2:24.58 (7)
Anchor	–	Ryk Neethling		–	0.09	22.47	48.08 (6)	– (–)
8	–	Great Britain	GBR	3:12.87	–	–	– (8)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Simon Burnett		–	0.68	23.39	48.34 (6)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Adam Brown		–	0.31	23.04	47.75 (4)	1:36.09 (6)
3rd Leg	–	Ben Hockin		–	0.38	22.95	48.50 (8)	2:24.59 (8)
Anchor	–	Ross Davenport		–	0.19	23.22	48.28 (7)	– (–)