Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Women's 4 × 100 metre medley relay
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Women's 4 × 100 metre medley relay at the Games of the XXVII Olympiad | ||||||||||
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Venue | Sydney International Aquatic Centre | |||||||||
Date | September 22, 2000 (heats) September 23, 2000 (final) | |||||||||
Competitors | 81 from 18 nations | |||||||||
Winning time | 3:58.30 WR | |||||||||
Medalists | ||||||||||
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The women's 4 × 100 metre medley relay event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 22–23 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia.[1]
The U.S. women's team established a new world record to defend their Olympic title in the event for the third consecutive streak. Leading the race from the start, Barbara Bedford (1:01.39), Megan Quann (1:06.29), Jenny Thompson (57.25), and Dara Torres (53.37) put together in a sterling time of 3:58.30 to clear the four-minute barrier and to smash China's six-year-old world record by 3.37 seconds.[2][3] Capturing another relay title for the Americans, Thompson also picked up her eighth gold medal and tenth career as the nation's most successful female athlete in Olympic history.[4][5]
The Aussie team of Dyana Calub (1:01.83), Leisel Jones (1:08.08), Petria Thomas (57.39), and Susie O'Neill (54.29) finished behind their greatest rivals by over three seconds, but powered home with the silver in an Oceanian record of 4:01.59. Meanwhile, Japan's Mai Nakamura (1:02.08), Masami Tanaka (1:08.65), Junko Onishi (58.72), and Sumika Minamoto (54.71) moved from fifth at the start to produce a spectacular fashion for the bronze in a national record of 4:04.16, holding off a mighty German team of Antje Buschschulte (1:02.05), Sylvia Gerasch (1:08.67), Franziska van Almsick (59.67), and Katrin Meissner (54.04) by 17-hundredths of a second, a time of 4:04.33.[6][7]
South Africa's Charlene Wittstock (1:02.74), Sarah Poewe (1:07.83), Mandy Loots (59.81), and Helene Muller (54.77) established an African standard to strike the field with a fifth-place effort in 4:05.15. Canada (4:07.55), Great Britain (4:07.61), and China (4:07.83) completed a close finish at the rear of the championship finale.[7]