# Swimming at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Women's 400 metre individual medley

The women's 400 metre individual medley event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place on 6 August at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium.

## Summary

Four years after narrowly missing the podium in London, Hungary's Katinka Hosszú, nicknamed the "Iron Lady", opened her redemptive Games by dominating the 400 m individual medley with a new world record and the first title of her Olympic career. Dominating the race from the very start, she pulled away from the field to a gold-medal finish with a 4:26.36. Hosszú's swim also demolished the world record of 4:28.43, set by China's Ye Shiwen at the previous Games. Trailing the leader by almost five seconds, U.S. swimmer Maya DiRado turned ahead of the world-record pace for over half the race, and managed to finish with a silver in 4:31.15. Meanwhile, Spain's Mireia Belmonte rounded out the podium with a bronze in 4:32.39, edging out Great Britain's Hannah Miley (4:32.54) in a tight battle to fourth by 0.15 of a second.
Canada's Emily Overholt finished fifth with a 4:34.70, and was shortly followed by London 2012 runner-up Elizabeth Beisel of the United States (4:34.98). Miley's teammate Aimee Willmott (4:35.04) and Japan's Sakiko Shimizu (4:38.06) rounded out the final.
Reigning Olympic champion Ye Shiwen missed a chance to defend her title in the final, after finishing twenty-seventh out of thirty-three swimmers in the prelims.
The medals for the competition were presented by Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski, Philippines, IOC member, and the gifts were presented by Husain al-Musallam, First Vice President of the FINA.

## Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record | Ye Shiwen (CHN) | 4:28.43 | London, United Kingdom | 28 July 2012 |
| Olympic record | Ye Shiwen (CHN) | 4:28.43 | London, United Kingdom | 28 July 2012 |
The following records were established during the competition:
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
| 6 August | Final | Katinka Hosszú | Hungary | 4:26.36 | WR |

## Competition format

The competition consisted of two rounds: heats and a final. The swimmers with the best 8 times in the heats advanced to the final. Swim-offs were used as necessary to break ties for advancement to the next round.

## Results
### Heats

| Rank | Heat | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 5 | 4 | Katinka Hosszú | Hungary | 4:28.58 | Q, ER |
| 2 | 5 | 3 | Mireia Belmonte | Spain | 4:32.75 | Q |
| 3 | 4 | 4 | Maya DiRado | United States | 4:33.50 | Q |
| 4 | 5 | 5 | Hannah Miley | Great Britain | 4:33.74 | Q |
| 5 | 4 | 3 | Aimee Willmott | Great Britain | 4:34.08 | Q |
| 6 | 5 | 2 | Elizabeth Beisel | United States | 4:34.38 | Q |
| 7 | 5 | 7 | Sakiko Shimizu | Japan | 4:34.66 | Q, NR |
| 8 | 4 | 5 | Emily Overholt | Canada | 4:36.54 | Q |
| 9 | 3 | 2 | Nguyễn Thị Ánh Viên | Vietnam | 4:36.85 | NR |
| 10 | 4 | 6 | Miho Takahashi | Japan | 4:37.33 | |
| 10 | 4 | 8 | Keryn McMaster | Australia | 4:37.33 | |
| 12 | 3 | 4 | Sydney Pickrem | Canada | 4:38.06 | |
| 13 | 5 | 8 | Zsuzsanna Jakabos | Hungary | 4:38.52 | |
| 14 | 4 | 2 | Barbora Závadová | Czech Republic | 4:38.53 | |
| 15 | 3 | 5 | Joanna Maranhão | Brazil | 4:38.88 | |
| 16 | 5 | 6 | Blair Evans | Australia | 4:38.91 | |
| 17 | 2 | 7 | Matea Samardžić | Croatia | 4:39.41 | |
| 18 | 3 | 8 | Viktoriya Zeynep Güneş | Turkey | 4:41.79 | |
| 19 | 3 | 7 | María Vilas | Spain | 4:42.52 | |
| 20 | 2 | 2 | Anja Crevar | Serbia | 4:43.19 | |
| 21 | 3 | 6 | Franziska Hentke | Germany | 4:43.32 | |
| 22 | 5 | 1 | Lara Grangeon | France | 4:43.98 | |
| 23 | 3 | 1 | Fantine Lesaffre | France | 4:44.47 | |
| 24 | 1 | 5 | Martina van Berkel | Switzerland | 4:45.12 | |
| 25 | 1 | 3 | Tanja Kylliäinen | Finland | 4:45.33 | NR |
| 26 | 3 | 3 | Luisa Trombetti | Italy | 4:45.52 | |
| 27 | 4 | 7 | Ye Shiwen | China | 4:45.86 | |
| 28 | 2 | 3 | Victoria Kaminskaya | Portugal | 4:46.03 | |
| 29 | 1 | 4 | Jördis Steinegger | Austria | 4:47.84 | |
| 30 | 2 | 4 | Sara Franceschi | Italy | 4:48.48 | |
| 31 | 2 | 6 | Virginia Bardach | Argentina | 4:49.69 | |
| 32 | 4 | 1 | Zhou Min | China | 4:50.38 | |
| 33 | 2 | 5 | Ranohon Amanova | Uzbekistan | 4:52.15 | |

### Final

| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | 4 | Katinka Hosszú | Hungary | 4:26.36 | WR |
| | 3 | Maya DiRado | United States | 4:31.15 | |
| | 5 | Mireia Belmonte | Spain | 4:32.39 | |
| 4 | 6 | Hannah Miley | Great Britain | 4:32.54 | |
| 5 | 8 | Emily Overholt | Canada | 4:34.70 | |
| 6 | 7 | Elizabeth Beisel | United States | 4:34.98 | |
| 7 | 2 | Aimee Willmott | Great Britain | 4:35.04 | |
| 8 | 1 | Sakiko Shimizu | Japan | 4:38.06 | |