| | Event type

4 × 100 metres Medley Relay, Men

Date	15 – 17 August 2008
Status	Olympic
Location	Beijing Guojia Youyong Zhongxin, Beijing Aolinpike Gongyuan, Beijing
Participants	75 from 16 countries

With seven Olympic titles already in his locker, Michael Phelps would have been forgiven if he had suggested that the hardest part of his attempted eight gold medal sweep was already over. After all the US had, barring the 1980 boycott, never failed to win the medley relay since its’ introduction in 1960.

Backstroke champion Aaron Peirsol led the Americans out to a lead on the opening leg of the final but Japan and Australia came back at them in the breaststroke leg. It was time for Phelps to earn his glory and put America back in front and that is exactly what happened. As the final freestyle leg got underway the US held a healthy but not conclusive lead over Japan with Australia back in third. Though individual 100 m freestyle champion Eamon Sullivan attempted to pull back the Americans it was not enough to make a difference as the USA broke yet another world record. Phelps’ eighth gold medal of the 2008 Games was an absolute Olympic record breaking Mark Spitz’s record of seven in 1972.

Pos	Competitors	NOC	R1	Final
1	United States	USA	3:32.75 (1 h2)	3:29.34 (1)	Gold
Backstroke	Aaron Peirsol		–	–
Breaststroke	Brendan Hansen		–	–
Butterfly	Michael Phelps		–	–
Freestyle	Jason Lezak		–	–
Backstroke	Matt Grevers		–	–
Breaststroke	Mark Gangloff		–	–
Butterfly	Ian Crocker		–	–
Freestyle	Garrett Weber-Gale		–	–
2	Australia	AUS	3:32.76 (1 h1)	3:30.04 (2)	Silver
Backstroke	Hayden Stoeckel		–	–
Breaststroke	Brenton Rickard		–	–
Butterfly	Andrew Lauterstein		–	–
Freestyle	Eamon Sullivan		–	–
Backstroke	Ash Delaney		–	–
Breaststroke	Christian Sprenger		–	–
Butterfly	Adam Pine		–	–
Freestyle	Matt Targett		–	–
3	Japan	JPN	3:32.81 (2 h1)	3:31.18 (3)	Bronze
Backstroke	Junichi Miyashita		–	–
Breaststroke	Kosuke Kitajima		–	–
Butterfly	Takuro Fujii		–	–
Freestyle	Hisayoshi Sato		–	–
4	Russian Federation	RUS	3:33.59 (2 h2)	3:31.92 (4)
Backstroke	Arkady Vyatchanin		–	–
Breaststroke	Roman Sludnov		–	–
Butterfly	Yevgeny Korotyshkin		–	–
Freestyle	Yevgeny Lagunov		–	–
Butterfly	Nikolay Skvortsov		–	–
Freestyle	Andrey Grechin		–	–
5	New Zealand	NZL	3:34.09 (3 h2)	3:33.39 (5)
Backstroke	Daniel Bell		–	–
Breaststroke	Glenn Snyders		–	–
Butterfly	Corney Swanepoel		–	–
Freestyle	Cam Gibson		–	–
6	Great Britain	GBR	3:33.83 (3 h1)	3:33.69 (6)
Backstroke	Liam Tancock		–	–
Breaststroke	Chris Cook		–	–
Butterfly	Michael Rock		–	–
Freestyle	Simon Burnett		–	–
7	South Africa	RSA	3:34.16 (4 h2)	3:33.70 (7)
Backstroke	Gerhard Zandberg		–	–
Breaststroke	Cameron van der Burgh		–	–
Butterfly	Lyndon Ferns		–	–
Freestyle	Darian Townsend		–	–
DQ	Italy	ITA	3:34.32 (5 h2)	– (DQ)
Backstroke	Mirco Di Tora		–	–
Breaststroke	Loris Facci		–	–
Butterfly	Mattia Nalesso		–	–
Freestyle	Filippo Magnini		–	–
Breaststroke	Alessandro Terrin		–	–
9	France	FRA	3:34.78 (6 h2)	–
Backstroke	Benjamin Stasiulis		–	–
Breaststroke	Hugues Duboscq		–	–
Butterfly	Christophe Lebon		–	–
Freestyle	Fabien Gilot		–	–
10	Canada	CAN	3:35.56 (7 h2)	–
Backstroke	Jake Tapp		–	–
Breaststroke	Mike Brown		–	–
Butterfly	Joe Bartoch		–	–
Freestyle	Brent Hayden		–	–
11	Sweden	SWE	3:35.83 (4 h1)	–
Backstroke	Simon Sjödin		–	–
Breaststroke	Jonas Andersson		–	–
Butterfly	Lars Frölander		–	–
Freestyle	Jonas Persson		–	–
12	Croatia	CRO	3:37.69 (8 h2)	–
Backstroke	Gordan Kožulj		–	–
Breaststroke	Vanja Rogulj		–	–
Butterfly	Mario Todorović		–	–
Freestyle	Duje Draganja		–	–
13	Romania	ROU	3:38.00 (5 h1)	–
Backstroke	Răzvan Florea		–	–
Breaststroke	Valentin Preda		–	–
Butterfly	Ștefan Gherghel		–	–
Freestyle	Norbert Trandafir		–	–
14	Brazil	BRA	3:38.66 (6 h1)	–
Backstroke	Guilherme Guido		–	–
Breaststroke	Felipe França		–	–
Butterfly	Kaio Márcio		–	–
Freestyle	Nicolas Oliveira		–	–
15	Ukraine	UKR	3:38.76 (7 h1)	–
Backstroke	Oleksandr Isakov		–	–
Breaststroke	Valeriy Dymo		–	–
Butterfly	Serhiy Breus		–	–
Freestyle	Yuriy Yehoshyn		–	–
16	Belarus	BLR	3:39.39 (8 h1)	–
Backstroke	Paval Sankovich		–	–
Breaststroke	Viktar Vabishchevich		–	–
Butterfly	Yauhen Lazuka		–	–
Freestyle	Stanislau Neviarouski		–	–

Round One

Date	15 August 2008
Format	Fastest 8 teams advanced to the final round.

Pos	Lane	Team	NOC	Time
1	4	United States	USA	3:32.75	Q
2	4	Australia	AUS	3:32.76	Q
3	5	Japan	JPN	3:32.81	Q
4	3	Russian Federation	RUS	3:33.59	Q
5	6	Great Britain	GBR	3:33.83	Q
6	8	New Zealand	NZL	3:34.09	Q
7	6	South Africa	RSA	3:34.16	Q
8	7	Italy	ITA	3:34.32	Q
9	1	France	FRA	3:34.78
10	5	Canada	CAN	3:35.56
11	2	Sweden	SWE	3:35.83
12	2	Croatia	CRO	3:37.69
13	1	Romania	ROU	3:38.00
14	3	Brazil	BRA	3:38.66
15	7	Ukraine	UKR	3:38.76
16	8	Belarus	BLR	3:39.39

Heat #1

Time	20:47

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m Time	Split	Exchange
1	4	Australia	AUS	3:32.76	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Ash Delaney		–	0.52	26.09	53.74 (1)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Christian Sprenger		–	0.20	27.51	59.95 (3)	1:53.69 (2)
Butterfly	–	Adam Pine		–	0.07	23.92	51.66 (3)	2:45.35 (2)
Freestyle	–	Matt Targett		–	0.20	22.09	47.41 (1)	– (–)
2	5	Japan	JPN	3:32.81	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Junichi Miyashita		–	0.62	26.14	54.29 (2)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Kosuke Kitajima		–	0.13	27.62	58.79 (1)	1:53.08 (1)
Butterfly	–	Takuro Fujii		–	0.24	24.10	50.86 (1)	2:43.94 (1)
Freestyle	–	Hisayoshi Sato		–	0.07	22.92	48.87 (5)	– (–)
3	6	Great Britain	GBR	3:33.83	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Liam Tancock		–	0.62	26.33	54.67 (3)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Chris Cook		–	0.07	27.60	59.40 (2)	1:54.07 (3)
Butterfly	–	Michael Rock		–	0.15	23.90	51.99 (4)	2:46.06 (3)
Freestyle	–	Simon Burnett		–	0.13	22.41	47.77 (2)	– (–)
4	2	Sweden	SWE	3:35.83	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Simon Sjödin		–	0.62	27.06	55.27 (7)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Jonas Andersson		–	0.29	27.96	1:01.22 (5)	1:56.49 (5)
Butterfly	–	Lars Frölander		–	0.26	23.72	51.13 (2)	2:47.62 (4)
Freestyle	–	Jonas Persson		–	0.02	22.66	48.21 (3)	– (–)
5	1	Romania	ROU	3:38.00	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Răzvan Florea		–	0.65	26.74	54.81 (5)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Valentin Preda		–	0.41	28.23	1:01.41 (6)	1:56.22 (4)
Butterfly	–	Ștefan Gherghel		–	0.26	24.41	52.44 (6)	2:48.66 (5)
Freestyle	–	Norbert Trandafir		–	0.03	23.04	49.34 (7)	– (–)
6	3	Brazil	BRA	3:38.66	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Guilherme Guido		–	0.51	26.18	54.78 (4)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Felipe França		–	0.39	28.31	1:02.06 (8)	1:56.84 (6)
Butterfly	–	Kaio Márcio		–	0.18	24.84	53.31 (8)	2:50.15 (8)
Freestyle	–	Nicolas Oliveira		–	0.36	23.26	48.51 (4)	– (–)
7	7	Ukraine	UKR	3:38.76	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Oleksandr Isakov		–	0.70	27.13	56.66 (8)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Valeriy Dymo		–	0.14	27.91	1:00.61 (4)	1:57.27 (8)
Butterfly	–	Serhiy Breus		–	0.11	23.49	52.38 (5)	2:49.65 (7)
Freestyle	–	Yuriy Yehoshyn		–	0.36	23.51	49.11 (6)	– (–)
8	8	Belarus	BLR	3:39.39	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Paval Sankovich		–	0.59	26.32	55.11 (6)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Viktar Vabishchevich		–	0.28	28.87	1:01.89 (7)	1:57.00 (7)
Butterfly	–	Yauhen Lazuka		–	0.02	23.87	52.63 (7)	2:49.63 (6)
Freestyle	–	Stanislau Neviarouski		–	0.39	23.77	49.76 (8)	– (–)

Heat #2

Time	20:53

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m Time	Split	Exchange
1	4	United States	USA	3:32.75	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Matt Grevers		–	0.65	26.06	53.59 (1)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Mark Gangloff		–	0.36	27.52	1:00.35 (5)	1:53.94 (3)
Butterfly	–	Ian Crocker		–	0.42	23.60	50.85 (1)	2:44.79 (1)
Freestyle	–	Garrett Weber-Gale		–	0.26	23.02	47.96 (=3)	– (–)
2	3	Russian Federation	RUS	3:33.59	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Arkady Vyatchanin		–	0.81	26.42	53.86 (2)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Roman Sludnov		–	0.17	27.74	59.63 (3)	1:53.49 (1)
Butterfly	–	Nikolay Skvortsov		–	0.22	23.52	51.62 (3)	2:45.11 (2)
Freestyle	–	Andrey Grechin		–	0.36	22.37	48.48 (7)	– (–)
3	8	New Zealand	NZL	3:34.09	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Daniel Bell		–	0.56	26.42	54.52 (5)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Glenn Snyders		–	0.22	28.04	59.46 (2)	1:53.98 (4)
Butterfly	–	Corney Swanepoel		–	0.17	23.78	52.12 (6)	2:46.10 (3)
Freestyle	–	Cam Gibson		–	0.05	22.90	47.99 (5)	– (–)
4	6	South Africa	RSA	3:34.16	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Gerhard Zandberg		–	0.64	26.17	54.19 (4)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Cameron van der Burgh		–	0.27	27.34	59.68 (4)	1:53.87 (2)
Butterfly	–	Lyndon Ferns		–	0.22	23.67	52.33 (7)	2:46.20 (4)
Freestyle	–	Darian Townsend		–	0.23	22.41	47.96 (=3)	– (–)
5	7	Italy	ITA	3:34.32	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Mirco Di Tora		–	0.55	25.88	54.05 (3)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Alessandro Terrin		–	0.10	27.73	1:01.25 (7)	1:55.30 (6)
Butterfly	–	Mattia Nalesso		–	0.05	23.39	51.96 (4)	2:47.26 (6)
Freestyle	–	Filippo Magnini		–	0.00	22.42	47.06 (2)	– (–)
6	1	France	FRA	3:34.78	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Benjamin Stasiulis		–	0.61	26.75	55.46 (8)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Hugues Duboscq		–	0.21	27.90	59.29 (1)	1:54.75 (5)
Butterfly	–	Christophe Lebon		–	0.26	24.08	51.97 (5)	2:46.72 (5)
Freestyle	–	Fabien Gilot		–	0.31	22.53	48.06 (6)	– (–)
7	5	Canada	CAN	3:35.56	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Jake Tapp		–	0.68	26.55	55.16 (7)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Mike Brown		–	0.19	28.58	1:00.98 (6)	1:56.14 (7)
Butterfly	–	Joe Bartoch		–	0.27	24.28	52.58 (8)	2:48.72 (8)
Freestyle	–	Brent Hayden		–	0.14	21.73	46.84 (1)	– (–)
8	2	Croatia	CRO	3:37.69	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Gordan Kožulj		–	0.60	26.40	54.91 (6)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Vanja Rogulj		–	0.07	27.92	1:01.30 (8)	1:56.21 (8)
Butterfly	–	Mario Todorović		–	0.36	23.43	51.52 (2)	2:47.73 (7)
Freestyle	–	Duje Draganja		–	0.29	22.97	49.96 (8)	– (–)

Final Round

Date	17 August 2008 — 11:07

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m Time	Split	Exchange
1	4	United States	USA	3:29.34	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	WR
Backstroke	–	Aaron Peirsol		–	0.63	25.92	53.16 (1)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Brendan Hansen		–	0.26	27.47	59.27 (3)	1:52.43 (3)
Butterfly	–	Michael Phelps		–	0.25	23.52	50.15 (1)	2:42.58 (1)
Freestyle	–	Jason Lezak		–	0.26	22.04	46.76 (2)	– (–)
2	5	Australia	AUS	3:30.04	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Hayden Stoeckel		–	0.63	26.18	53.80 (3)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Brenton Rickard		–	0.04	27.39	58.56 (2)	1:52.36 (2)
Butterfly	–	Andrew Lauterstein		–	0.19	23.50	51.03 (3)	2:43.39 (3)
Freestyle	–	Eamon Sullivan		–	0.30	21.91	46.65 (1)	– (–)
3	3	Japan	JPN	3:31.18	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Junichi Miyashita		–	0.63	26.10	53.87 (4)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Kosuke Kitajima		–	0.23	27.24	58.07 (1)	1:51.94 (1)
Butterfly	–	Takuro Fujii		–	0.25	23.97	50.89 (2)	2:42.83 (2)
Freestyle	–	Hisayoshi Sato		–	0.05	22.87	48.35 (7)	– (–)
4	6	Russian Federation	RUS	3:31.92	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Arkady Vyatchanin		–	0.82	26.35	53.36 (2)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Roman Sludnov		–	0.38	27.62	59.45 (5)	1:52.81 (4)
Butterfly	–	Yevgeny Korotyshkin		–	0.32	23.38	51.62 (5)	2:44.43 (4)
Freestyle	–	Yevgeny Lagunov		–	0.26	22.35	47.49 (5)	– (–)
5	7	New Zealand	NZL	3:33.39	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Daniel Bell		–	0.57	26.46	54.74 (8)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Glenn Snyders		–	0.33	28.27	59.87 (7)	1:54.61 (7)
Butterfly	–	Corney Swanepoel		–	0.09	23.42	51.78 (6)	2:46.39 (7)
Freestyle	–	Cam Gibson		–	0.14	22.47	47.00 (3)	– (–)
6	2	Great Britain	GBR	3:33.69	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Liam Tancock		–	0.60	26.01	54.69 (=6)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Chris Cook		–	0.21	27.73	59.65 (6)	1:54.34 (6)
Butterfly	–	Michael Rock		–	0.08	23.58	52.02 (7)	2:46.36 (6)
Freestyle	–	Simon Burnett		–	0.11	22.17	47.33 (4)	– (–)
7	1	South Africa	RSA	3:33.70	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Gerhard Zandberg		–	0.70	26.08	54.69 (=6)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Cameron van der Burgh		–	0.20	27.41	59.40 (4)	1:54.09 (5)
Butterfly	–	Lyndon Ferns		–	0.17	23.37	51.39 (4)	2:45.48 (5)
Freestyle	–	Darian Townsend		–	0.20	22.34	48.22 (6)	– (–)
DQ	8	Italy	ITA	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)		1
Backstroke	–	Mirco Di Tora		–	[0.60]	[25.98]	[54.52] ([5])	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Loris Facci		–	[0.26]	[28.49]	[1:00.55] ([8])	[1:55.07] ([8])
Butterfly	–	Mattia Nalesso		–	[0.10]	[23.70]	[52.26] ([8])	[2:47.33] ([8])
Freestyle	–	Filippo Magnini		–	[-0.04]	–	– (–)	– (–)