| Event: | Men's 400 metre individual medley |
| Games: | 2000 Summer |
| Venue: | Sydney International Aquatic Centre |
| Date: | September 17, 2000 (heats & final) |
| Competitors: | 45 |
| Nations: | 39 |
| Win Value: | 4:11.76 |
| Gold: | Tom Dolan |
| Goldnoc: | USA |
| Silver: | Erik Vendt |
| Silvernoc: | USA |
| Bronze: | Curtis Myden |
| Bronzenoc: | CAN |
| Prev: | 1996 |
| Next: | 2004 |
The men's 400 metre individual medley event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 17 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia.[1]
U.S. swimmer Tom Dolan blistered the entire field, and broke a six-year-old world record to successfully defend his Olympic title in the event. Acknowledging a massive roar from an Australian crowd, Dolan pulled away from the field on the backstroke leg, and then opened up his lead to a powerful finish in a sterling time of 4:11.76.[2] [3] Dolan's teammate Erik Vendt came from last place on the first turn with a spectacular swim to take home the silver in 4:14.23, pulling off another top-two finish of the night for the Americans.[4] Meanwhile, Canada's Curtis Myden managed to repeat his bronze from Atlanta four years earlier in 4:15.33, handing a second straight medal haul for North America in the event's history.[5] [6]
Leading earlier in the prelims, Italy's Alessio Boggiatto finished outside the podium by six-tenths of a second (0.60) in 4:15.93. South Africa's Terence Parkin, a deaf mute since birth, swam on the outside in lane eight, but pulled off a fifth-place effort in an African record of 4:16.92. He was followed in sixth spot by Australia's newcomer Justin Norris (4:17.87), and in seventh by Romania's Cezar Bădiță (4:20.91), who had been overshadowed in his presence by a doping ban before the start of the Games.[6] In May 2000, Badita failed a doping test for a steroid nandralone when he competed at the Mare Nostrum meet in Barcelona, Spain.[7] [8] Japan's Shinya Taniguchi closed out the field to eighth place with a time of 4:20.93.[6]
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 3 | 4:14.26 | Q, NR | |||
| 2 | 6 | 4 | 4:15.52 | Q | |||
| 3 | 4 | 4 | 4:16.35 | Q | |||
| 4 | 4 | 6 | 4:17.11 | Q, NR | |||
| 5 | 5 | 4 | 4:17.15 | Q | |||
| 6 | 5 | 5 | 4:17.36 | Q | |||
| 5 | 2 | Q, AS | |||||
| 8 | 5 | 6 | 4:18.14 | Q, AF | |||
| 9 | 5 | 7 | 4:18.63 | ||||
| 10 | 6 | 6 | 4:18.85 | ||||
| 11 | 5 | 3 | 4:19.97 | ||||
| 12 | 4 | 5 | 4:20.31 | ||||
| 13 | 6 | 5 | 4:20.76 | ||||
| 14 | 4 | 7 | 4:20.96 | ||||
| 15 | 6 | 3 | 4:21.63 | ||||
| 16 | 4 | 1 | 4:21.81 | ||||
| 17 | 3 | 2 | 4:22.21 | ||||
| 18 | 3 | 6 | 4:22.38 | ||||
| 19 | 6 | 1 | 4:22.85 | ||||
| 20 | 5 | 1 | 4:23.19 | ||||
| 21 | 6 | 7 | 4:23.33 | ||||
| 22 | 3 | 4 | 4:23.57 | ||||
| 23 | 3 | 5 | 4:23.81 | ||||
| 24 | 4 | 2 | 4:24.38 | ||||
| 25 | 5 | 8 | 4:24.56 | ||||
| 26 | 4 | 8 | 4:24.62 | ||||
| 27 | 2 | 2 | 4:25.16 | ||||
| 28 | 3 | 7 | 4:25.26 | ||||
| 29 | 6 | 2 | 4:25.70 | ||||
| 30 | 3 | 1 | 4:26.62 | ||||
| 31 | 2 | 4 | 4:26.87 | ||||
| 32 | 6 | 8 | 4:28.42 | ||||
| 33 | 3 | 3 | 4:28.56 | ||||
| 34 | 1 | 3 | 4:29.02 | ||||
| 35 | 3 | 8 | 4:29.42 | ||||
| 36 | 2 | 3 | 4:29.52 | NR | |||
| 37 | 2 | 7 | 4:30.17 | ||||
| 38 | 2 | 5 | 4:31.73 | ||||
| 39 | 2 | 8 | 4:31.89 | ||||
| 40 | 1 | 4 | 4:35.92 | ||||
| 41 | 2 | 1 | 4:36.90 | ||||
| 42 | 2 | 6 | 4:38.31 | ||||
| 43 | 1 | 5 | 4:41.97 | ||||
| 44 | 1 | 6 | 4:42.78 | ||||
| 45 | 1 | 2 | 4:53.12 |
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 4:11.76 | |||||
| 2 | 4:14.23 | |||||
| 3 | 4:15.33 | NR | ||||
| 4 | 4 | 4:15.93 | ||||
| 5 | 8 | 4:16.92 | AF | |||
| 6 | 1 | 4:17.87 | ||||
| 7 | 6 | 4:20.91 | ||||
| 8 | 7 | 4:20.93 |