| | Event type

4 × 100 metres Medley Relay, Men

Date	12 – 13 August 2016
Status	Olympic
Location	Estádio Aquático Olímpico, Parque Olímpico da Barra, Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro
Participants	74 from 16 countries

The Americans were heavy favorites to win gold in this event. Of the 14 previous times it had been held at the Olympics, the USA had won 13 gold medals, losing only in 1980, when the US boycotted the Moskva Olympics. Australia, Great Britain, and France were expected to battle for the other medals. The final was notable as it would be the last Olympic appearance of the greatest swimmer of all-time, Michael Phelps, swimming butterfly for the USA.

Ryan Murphy started it out for the USA with a world record of 51.85 on the opening backstroke leg. However, Great Britain’s Adam Peaty blasted the breaststroke leg in 56.69 to give Britain the lead after the second leg. Unfortunately for the field, Phelps was the third US swimmer, and his butterfly leg of 50.33 bade farewell to the Olympics, and to the other teams in the race. It was left for Nathan Adrian to bring it home for the Americans as they won gold by 1.29 seconds. Britain held on for silver in a national record 3:29.24, while Australia took bronze. For Phelps this was his 23rd gold medal and 28th Olympic medal, all records that could stand forever.

Pos	Competitors	NOC	R1	Final
1	United States	USA	3:31.83 (1 h2)	3:27.95 (1)	Gold
	Michael Phelps • Nathan Adrian • Caeleb Dressel • Cody Miller • David Plummer • Kevin Cordes • Ryan Murphy • Tom Shields
2	Great Britain	GBR	3:30.47 (1 h1)	3:29.24 (2)	Silver
	Chris Walker-Hebborn • Adam Peaty • James Guy • Duncan Scott
3	Australia	AUS	3:32.57 (2 h1)	3:29.93 (3)	Bronze
	Mitch Larkin • Cameron McEvoy • David Morgan • Jake Packard • Kyle Chalmers
4	Russian Federation	RUS	3:32.95 (3 h1)	3:31.30 (4)
	Aleksandr Sukhorukov • Vladimir Morozov • Aleksandr Sadovnikov • Anton Chupkov • Yevgeny Koptelov • Yevgeny Rylov • Grigory Tarasevich
5	Japan	JPN	3:32.33 (2 h2)	3:31.97 (5)
	Ryosuke Irie • Yasuhiro Koseki • Takuro Fujii • Katsumi Nakamura
6	Brazil	BRA	3:32.96 (4 h2)	3:32.84 (6)
	Felipe França • Guilherme Guido • Marcelo Chierighini • Henrique Martins • João Gomes Júnior
7	Germany	GER	3:33.67 (4 h1)	3:33.50 (7)
	Steffen Deibler • Jan-Philip Glania • Marco Koch • Christian vom Lehn • Damian Wierling
AC r2/2	People's Republic of China	CHN	3:32.57 (3 h2)	– (DQ)		DQ	1
	Xu Jiayu • Li Xiang • Li Zhuhao • Ning Zetao
9	Hungary	HUN	3:33.89 (5 h2)	–
	Gábor Balog • Dániel Gyurta • Bence Pulai • Richárd Bohus
10	France	FRA	3:34.47 (6 h2)	–
	Camille Lacourt • Théo Bussière • Jérémy Stravius • Clément Mignon
11	Italy	ITA	3:34.85 (5 h1)	–
	Simone Sabbioni • Andrea Toniato • Piero Codia • Luca Dotto
12	Poland	POL	3:35.18 (6 h1)	–
	Radosław Kawęcki • Marcin Stolarski • Konrad Czerniak • Kacper Majchrzak
13	South Africa	RSA	3:35.50 (7 h2)	–
	Chris Reid • Cameron van der Burgh • Dylan Bosch • Myles Brown
14	Lithuania	LTU	3:35.90 (7 h1)	–
	Danas Rapšys • Giedrius Titenis • Deividas Margevičius • Simonas Bilis
15	Greece	GRE	3:36.75 (8 h2)	–
	Apostolos Christou • Panagiotis Samilidis • Andreas Vazaios • Kristian Gkolomeev
16	Canada	CAN	3:36.92 (8 h1)	–
	Javier Acevedo • Jason Block • Mack Darragh • Yuri Kisil

Round One

Date	12 August 2016 — 15:48
Format	Fastest 8 teams advanced to the final round.

Pos	Lane	Team	NOC	Time
1	5	Great Britain	GBR	3:30.47	Q
2	4	United States	USA	3:31.83	Q
3	3	Japan	JPN	3:32.33	Q
=4	4	Australia	AUS	3:32.57	Q
=4	8	People's Republic of China	CHN	3:32.57	Q
6	2	Russian Federation	RUS	3:32.95	Q
7	6	Brazil	BRA	3:32.96	Q
8	3	Germany	GER	3:33.67	Q
9	7	Hungary	HUN	3:33.89
10	5	France	FRA	3:34.47
11	1	Italy	ITA	3:34.85
12	6	Poland	POL	3:35.18
13	2	South Africa	RSA	3:35.50
14	8	Lithuania	LTU	3:35.90
15	1	Greece	GRE	3:36.75
16	7	Canada	CAN	3:36.92

Heat #1

Time	15:48

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m Time	Split	Exchange
1	5	Great Britain	GBR	3:30.47	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Chris Walker-Hebborn		–	0.51	25.98	53.68 (3)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Adam Peaty		–	0.20	26.55	57.49 (1)	1:51.17 (1)
Butterfly	–	James Guy		–	0.46	24.17	51.48 (2)	2:42.65 (1)
Freestyle	–	Duncan Scott		–	0.42	23.05	47.82 (2)	– (–)
2	4	Australia	AUS	3:32.57	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Mitch Larkin		–	0.64	26.05	53.53 (1)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Jake Packard		–	0.27	27.87	59.80 (4)	1:53.33 (2)
Butterfly	–	David Morgan		–	0.19	24.15	51.25 (1)	2:44.58 (2)
Freestyle	–	Cameron McEvoy		–	0.37	23.36	47.99 (4)	– (–)
3	2	Russian Federation	RUS	3:32.95	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Grigory Tarasevich		–	0.57	25.63	53.54 (2)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Anton Chupkov		–	0.26	27.51	59.39 (2)	1:52.93 (3)
Butterfly	–	Yevgeny Koptelov		–	0.37	23.91	51.98 (6)	2:44.91 (3)
Freestyle	–	Aleksandr Sukhorukov		–	0.07	22.93	48.04 (5)	– (–)
4	3	Germany	GER	3:33.67	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Jan-Philip Glania		–	0.79	25.99	53.86 (4)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Christian vom Lehn		–	0.05	28.08	1:00.17 (5)	1:54.03 (4)
Butterfly	–	Steffen Deibler		–	0.18	23.99	51.51 (3)	2:45.54 (4)
Freestyle	–	Damian Wierling		–	0.02	22.50	48.13 (6)	– (–)
5	1	Italy	ITA	3:34.85	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Simone Sabbioni		–	0.68	26.07	54.71 (7)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Andrea Toniato		–	0.02	27.62	1:00.62 (7)	1:55.33 (5)
Butterfly	–	Piero Codia		–	0.13	23.74	51.78 (4)	2:47.11 (5)
Freestyle	–	Luca Dotto		–	0.19	22.39	47.74 (1)	– (–)
6	6	Poland	POL	3:35.18	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Radosław Kawęcki		–	0.66	26.23	54.68 (5)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Marcin Stolarski		–	0.02	28.36	1:00.32 (6)	1:55.00 (6)
Butterfly	–	Konrad Czerniak		–	0.30	24.03	51.82 (5)	2:46.82 (6)
Freestyle	–	Kacper Majchrzak		–	0.16	23.21	48.36 (8)	– (–)
7	8	Lithuania	LTU	3:35.90	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Danas Rapšys		–	0.65	26.58	54.85 (8)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Giedrius Titenis		–	0.33	27.35	59.68 (3)	1:54.53 (7)
Butterfly	–	Deividas Margevičius		–	0.27	24.34	53.08 (7)	2:47.61 (7)
Freestyle	–	Simonas Bilis		–	0.43	22.74	48.29 (7)	– (–)
8	7	Canada	CAN	3:36.92	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Javier Acevedo		–	0.59	26.81	54.70 (6)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Jason Block		–	0.37	28.15	1:00.80 (8)	1:55.50 (8)
Butterfly	–	Mack Darragh		–	0.26	24.83	53.53 (8)	2:49.03 (8)
Freestyle	–	Yuri Kisil		–	0.16	22.69	47.89 (3)	– (–)

Heat #2

Time	15:58

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m Time	Split	Exchange
1	4	United States	USA	3:31.83	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	David Plummer		–	0.66	25.36	52.70 (1)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Kevin Cordes		–	0.28	27.44	59.51 (3)	1:52.21 (1)
Butterfly	–	Tom Shields		–	0.45	24.22	51.88 (6)	2:44.09 (1)
Freestyle	–	Caeleb Dressel		–	0.49	22.62	47.74 (2)	– (–)
2	3	Japan	JPN	3:32.33	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Ryosuke Irie		–	0.56	25.94	53.57 (3)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Yasuhiro Koseki		–	0.25	27.37	59.02 (1)	1:52.59 (2)
Butterfly	–	Takuro Fujii		–	0.28	24.08	51.73 (3)	2:44.32 (2)
Freestyle	–	Katsumi Nakamura		–	0.39	22.90	48.01 (5)	– (–)
3	8	People's Republic of China	CHN	3:32.57	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Xu Jiayu		–	0.57	25.89	53.45 (2)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Li Xiang		–	0.16	27.63	59.17 (2)	1:52.62 (3)
Butterfly	–	Li Zhuhao		–	0.21	24.04	51.81 (4)	2:44.43 (3)
Freestyle	–	Ning Zetao		–	0.48	23.27	48.14 (7)	– (–)
4	6	Brazil	BRA	3:32.96	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Guilherme Guido		–	0.62	26.03	53.96 (5)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Felipe França		–	0.01	27.62	59.64 (4)	1:53.60 (4)
Butterfly	–	Henrique Martins		–	0.25	23.92	51.64 (1)	2:45.24 (4)
Freestyle	–	Marcelo Chierighini		–	0.14	22.36	47.72 (1)	– (–)
5	7	Hungary	HUN	3:33.89	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Gábor Balog		–	0.61	26.18	54.08 (6)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Dániel Gyurta		–	0.18	27.62	59.91 (6)	1:53.99 (5)
Butterfly	–	Bence Pulai		–	0.21	24.30	51.82 (5)	2:45.81 (5)
Freestyle	–	Richárd Bohus		–	0.32	22.67	48.08 (6)	– (–)
6	5	France	FRA	3:34.47	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Camille Lacourt		–	0.68	25.90	53.68 (4)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Théo Bussière		–	0.02	28.24	1:01.22 (8)	1:54.90 (6)
Butterfly	–	Jérémy Stravius		–	0.13	24.10	51.70 (2)	2:46.60 (6)
Freestyle	–	Clément Mignon		–	0.19	22.86	47.87 (3)	– (–)
7	2	South Africa	RSA	3:35.50	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Chris Reid		–	0.67	25.84	54.26 (7)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Cameron van der Burgh		–	0.29	27.11	59.87 (5)	1:54.13 (7)
Butterfly	–	Dylan Bosch		–	0.32	24.21	52.94 (7)	2:47.07 (7)
Freestyle	–	Myles Brown		–	0.29	23.08	48.43 (8)	– (–)
8	1	Greece	GRE	3:36.75	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Apostolos Christou		–	0.65	25.62	54.68 (8)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Panagiotis Samilidis		–	0.35	27.97	1:00.87 (7)	1:55.55 (8)
Butterfly	–	Andreas Vazaios		–	0.31	24.23	53.27 (8)	2:48.82 (8)
Freestyle	–	Kristian Gkolomeev		–	0.20	22.25	47.93 (4)	– (–)

Final Round

Date	13 August 2016 — 23:04

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m Time	Split	Exchange
1	5	United States	USA	3:27.95	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	OR
Backstroke	–	Ryan Murphy		–	0.55	25.13	51.85 (1)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Cody Miller		–	0.30	27.05	59.03 (6)	1:50.88 (1)
Butterfly	–	Michael Phelps		–	0.36	23.69	50.33 (1)	2:41.21 (1)
Freestyle	–	Nathan Adrian		–	0.21	22.30	46.74 (2)	– (–)
2	4	Great Britain	GBR	3:29.24	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Chris Walker-Hebborn		–	0.53	25.86	53.68 (6)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Adam Peaty		–	0.23	26.09	56.59 (1)	1:50.27 (2)
Butterfly	–	James Guy		–	0.40	23.98	51.35 (3)	2:41.62 (2)
Freestyle	–	Duncan Scott		–	0.40	22.90	47.62 (4)	– (–)
3	6	Australia	AUS	3:29.93	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Mitch Larkin		–	0.63	25.82	53.19 (3)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Jake Packard		–	0.31	27.53	58.84 (5)	1:52.03 (3)
Butterfly	–	David Morgan		–	0.23	24.00	51.18 (2)	2:43.21 (3)
Freestyle	–	Kyle Chalmers		–	0.31	22.37	46.72 (1)	– (–)
4	7	Russian Federation	RUS	3:31.30	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Yevgeny Rylov		–	0.53	25.87	52.90 (2)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Anton Chupkov		–	0.11	27.85	59.10 (7)	1:52.00 (4)
Butterfly	–	Aleksandr Sadovnikov		–	0.32	23.50	52.08 (7)	2:44.08 (4)
Freestyle	–	Vladimir Morozov		–	0.15	21.68	47.22 (3)	– (–)
5	3	Japan	JPN	3:31.97	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Ryosuke Irie		–	0.54	25.90	53.46 (5)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Yasuhiro Koseki		–	0.11	26.89	58.65 (4)	1:52.11 (5)
Butterfly	–	Takuro Fujii		–	0.25	23.87	51.56 (5)	2:43.67 (5)
Freestyle	–	Katsumi Nakamura		–	0.23	22.70	48.30 (6)	– (–)
6	1	Brazil	BRA	3:32.84	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Guilherme Guido		–	0.67	25.71	54.23 (8)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	João Gomes Júnior		–	0.18	26.65	58.59 (=2)	1:52.82 (6)
Butterfly	–	Henrique Martins		–	0.08	23.63	51.52 (4)	2:44.34 (6)
Freestyle	–	Marcelo Chierighini		–	0.30	22.35	48.50 (7)	– (–)
7	8	Germany	GER	3:33.50	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Jan-Philip Glania		–	0.69	26.27	54.14 (7)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Marco Koch		–	0.19	27.73	59.63 (8)	1:53.77 (7)
Butterfly	–	Steffen Deibler		–	0.17	23.92	51.69 (6)	2:45.46 (7)
Freestyle	–	Damian Wierling		–	0.43	22.93	48.04 (5)	– (–)
DQ	2	People's Republic of China	CHN	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)		2
Backstroke	–	Xu Jiayu		–	[0.55]	[25.53]	[53.21] ([4])	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Li Xiang		–	[0.19]	[27.32]	[58.59] ([=2])	[1:51.80] ([8])
Butterfly	–	Li Zhuhao		–	[-0.05]	–	– (–)	– (–)
Freestyle	–	Ning Zetao		–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)