| Date | 9 – 10 August 2008 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Beijing Guojia Youyong Zhongxin, Beijing Aolinpike Gongyuan, Beijing |
| Participants | 36 from 26 countries |
The 400 freestyle at the Beijing Olympics promised to be a clash between the old and the new. The old guard was represented by 28-year-old Australian Grant Hackett in his third Olympic Games whilst the standard bearer for the new generation was the teenaged Korean Park Tae-Hwan who had upset Hackett to win the world title in 2007. Hackett led in the early stages but Park took control of the final by the half way mark and was clear with a hundred metres to go. As the race neared its end Park’s lead was reduced by the fast finishing Zhang Lin but, although roared on by the home crowd, the Chinese swimmer could not catch the Korean. Park’s victory was the first by a Korean swimmer at Olympic level. As Hackett faded back to sixth Larsen Jensen of the USA moved through to claim the bronze medal. This event was one of the few in Beijing that did not see the world record broken. The record, held by Ian Thorpe, would last another year.
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | R1 | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Park Tae-Hwan |  KOR | 3:43.35 (2 h3) | 3:41.86 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | Zhang Lin |  CHN | 3:43.32 (1 h3) | 3:42.44 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | Larsen Jensen |  USA | 3:43.10 (1 h4) | 3:42.78 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | Peter Vanderkaay | USA | 3:44.22 (2 h5) | 3:43.11 (4) | |||
| 5 | Oussama Mellouli |  TUN | 3:44.54 (3 h4) | 3:43.45 (5) | |||
| 6 | Grant Hackett |  AUS | 3:44.03 (1 h5) | 3:43.84 (6) | |||
| 7 | Yury Prilukov |  RUS | 3:44.82 (3 h5) | 3:43.97 (7) | |||
| 8 | Nikita Lobintsev | RUS | 3:43.45 (2 h4) | 3:48.29 (8) | |||
| 9 | Ryan Cochrane |  CAN | 3:44.85 (4 h5) | – | |||
| 10 | Takeshi Matsuda |  JPN | 3:44.99 (3 h3) | – | |||
| 11 | Federico Colbertaldo |  ITA | 3:45.28 (4 h3) | – | |||
| 12 | Mads Glæsner |  DEN | 3:45.38 (4 h4) | – | |||
| 13 | Massi Rosolino | ITA | 3:45.57 (5 h4) | – | |||
| 14 | Nicolas Rostoucher |  FRA | 3:47.15 (5 h3) | – | |||
| 15 | David Carry |  GBR | 3:47.17 (5 h5) | – | |||
| 16 | Serhiy Fesenko |  UKR | 3:47.75 (6 h5) | – | |||
| 17 | Dragoș Coman |  ROU | 3:47.79 (7 h5) | – | |||
| 18 | Paul Biedermann |  GER | 3:48.03 (6 h3) | – | |||
| 19 | Przemysław Stańczyk |  POL | 3:48.11 (8 h5) | – | |||
| 20 | David Brandl |  AUT | 3:48.63 (1 h2) | – | |||
| 21 | Dean Milwain | GBR | 3:48.77 (7 h3) | – | |||
| 22 | Paweł Korzeniowski | POL | 3:48.78 (6 h4) | – | |||
| 23 | Sébastien Rouault | FRA | 3:48.84 (2 h2) | – | |||
| 24 | Spyros Gianniotis |  GRE | 3:49.34 (3 h2) | – | |||
| 25 | Craig Stevens | AUS | 3:50.22 (8 h3) | – | |||
| 26 | Gard Kvale |  NOR | 3:50.47 (1 h1) | – | |||
| 27 | Dominik Meichtry |  SUI | 3:50.55 (4 h2) | – | |||
| 28 | Sun Yang | CHN | 3:50.90 (7 h4) | – | |||
| 29 | Christian Kubusch | GER | 3:52.73 (8 h4) | – | |||
| 30 | Jean Basson |  RSA | 3:52.90 (5 h2) | – | |||
| 31 | Daniele Tirabassi |  VEN | 3:53.26 (2 h1) | – | |||
| 32 | Balázs Gercsák |  HUN | 3:54.14 (6 h2) | – | |||
| 33 | Květoslav Svoboda |  CZE | 3:56.54 (3 h1) | – | |||
| 34 | Jon Rud | DEN | 3:57.41 (7 h2) | – | |||
| 35 | Juan Martín Pereyra |  ARG | 3:59.35 (4 h1) | – | |||
| 36 | Oleg Rabota |  KAZ | 4:02.16 (5 h1) | – | |||
| Luka Turk |  SLO | – (DNS h2) | – |
| Date | 9 August 2008 |
|---|---|
| Format | Fastest eight swimmers advanced to final |
| Time | 19:16 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Gard Kvale | NOR | 3:50.47 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Daniele Tirabassi | VEN | 3:53.26 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Květoslav Svoboda | CZE | 3:56.54 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Juan Martín Pereyra | ARG | 3:59.35 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Oleg Rabota | KAZ | 4:02.16 |
| Time | 19:21 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | David Brandl | AUT | 3:48.63 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Sébastien Rouault | FRA | 3:48.84 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Spyros Gianniotis | GRE | 3:49.34 | ||
| 4 | 7 | Dominik Meichtry | SUI | 3:50.55 | ||
| 5 | 6 | Jean Basson | RSA | 3:52.90 | ||
| 6 | 8 | Balázs Gercsák | HUN | 3:54.14 | ||
| 7 | 2 | Jon Rud | DEN | 3:57.41 | ||
| 1 | Luka Turk | SLO | – |
| Time | 19:26 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Zhang Lin | CHN | 3:43.32 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Park Tae-Hwan | KOR | 3:43.35 | ||
| 3 | 2 | Takeshi Matsuda | JPN | 3:44.99 | ||
| 4 | 3 | Federico Colbertaldo | ITA | 3:45.28 | ||
| 5 | 1 | Nicolas Rostoucher | FRA | 3:47.15 | ||
| 6 | 7 | Paul Biedermann | GER | 3:48.03 | ||
| 7 | 8 | Dean Milwain | GBR | 3:48.77 | ||
| 8 | 6 | Craig Stevens | AUS | 3:50.22 |
| Time | 19:32 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Larsen Jensen | USA | 3:43.10 | ||
| 2 | 6 | Nikita Lobintsev | RUS | 3:43.45 | ||
| 3 | 5 | Oussama Mellouli | TUN | 3:44.54 | ||
| 4 | 8 | Mads Glæsner | DEN | 3:45.38 | ||
| 5 | 3 | Massi Rosolino | ITA | 3:45.57 | ||
| 6 | 7 | Paweł Korzeniowski | POL | 3:48.78 | ||
| 7 | 2 | Sun Yang | CHN | 3:50.90 | ||
| 8 | 1 | Christian Kubusch | GER | 3:52.73 |
| Time | 19:37 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Grant Hackett | AUS | 3:44.03 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Peter Vanderkaay | USA | 3:44.22 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Yury Prilukov | RUS | 3:44.82 | ||
| 4 | 2 | Ryan Cochrane | CAN | 3:44.85 | ||
| 5 | 7 | David Carry | GBR | 3:47.17 | ||
| 6 | 1 | Serhiy Fesenko | UKR | 3:47.75 | ||
| 7 | 8 | Dragoș Coman | ROU | 3:47.79 | ||
| 8 | 6 | Przemysław Stańczyk | POL | 3:48.11 |
| Date | 10 August 2008 — 10:26 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Park Tae-Hwan | KOR | 3:41.86 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Zhang Lin | CHN | 3:42.44 | ||
| 3 | 4 | Larsen Jensen | USA | 3:42.78 | ||
| 4 | 7 | Peter Vanderkaay | USA | 3:43.11 | ||
| 5 | 1 | Oussama Mellouli | TUN | 3:43.45 | ||
| 6 | 2 | Grant Hackett | AUS | 3:43.84 | ||
| 7 | 8 | Yury Prilukov | RUS | 3:43.97 | ||
| 8 | 6 | Nikita Lobintsev | RUS | 3:48.29 |
