The men's 200 metre individual medley event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 13–15 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.[1]
| Men's 200 metre individual medley at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Beijing National Aquatics Center | ||||||||||||
| Date | August 13, 2008 (heats) August 14, 2008 (semifinals) August 15, 2008 (final) | ||||||||||||
| Competitors | 47 from 42 nations | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 1:54.23 WR | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps blasted a new world record to defend his title in the event, and more importantly, claim his sixth Olympic gold, twelfth career, and fourteenth overall medal. He established a sterling time of 1:54.23 to lower his prior standard from the Olympic trials by almost six-tenths of a second (0.60). Hungary's László Cseh added a third silver to his collection, finishing with a European record of 1:56.52. Phelps' teammate and archrival Ryan Lochte earned a bronze in a time of 1:56.53, just a hundredth of a second (0.01) behind Cseh. The podium placements also replicated the results of the 400 m individual medley, held on the first day of the Games.[2][3]
Brazil's Thiago Pereira finished fourth with a time of 1:58.14, and was followed in the fifth spot by Japan's Ken Takakuwa, in an Asian record of 1:58.22. A full second later, Great Britain's James Goddard posted a time of 1:59.24 to earn a sixth spot, while Canada's Keith Beavers (1:59.43) and Goddard's teammate Liam Tancock (2:00.76) rounded out the finale.[2]
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record |  Michael Phelps (USA) | 1:54.80 | Omaha, United States | 5 July 2008 | [4] |
| Olympic record |  Michael Phelps (USA) | 1:57.14 | Athens, Greece | 19 August 2004 | - |
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 15 | Final | Michael Phelps | United States | 1:54.23 | WR |
Results
Heats
Semifinals
Semifinal 1
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Michael Phelps | United States | 1:57.70 | Q |
| 2 | 4 | László Cseh |  Hungary | 1:58.19 | Q |
| 3 | 5 | Ken Takakuwa |  Japan | 1:58.49 | Q, AS |
| 4 | 1 | Liam Tancock |  Great Britain | 1:59.42 | Q |
| 5 | 6 | Keith Beavers |  Canada | 1:59.43 | Q |
| 6 | 2 | Darian Townsend |  South Africa | 1:59.65 | |
| 7 | 7 | Gal Nevo |  Israel | 2:00.43 | |
| 8 | 8 | Dinko Jukić |  Austria | 2:00.98 |
Semifinal 2
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Ryan Lochte | United States | 1:57.69 | Q |
| 2 | 5 | Thiago Pereira |  Brazil | 1:58.06 | Q |
| 3 | 1 | James Goddard | Great Britain | 1:58.63 | Q |
| 4 | 3 | Bradley Ally |  Barbados | 1:59.53 | |
| 5 | 2 | Takuro Fujii | Japan | 1:59.59 | |
| 6 | 6 | Alessio Boggiatto |  Italy | 1:59.77 | |
| 7 | 8 | Leith Brodie |  Australia | 2:00.57 | |
| 8 | 7 | Vytautas Janušaitis |  Lithuania | 2:00.76 |
Final
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 5 | Michael Phelps | United States | 1:54.23 | WR |
 | 6 | László Cseh | Hungary | 1:56.52 | EU |
 | 4 | Ryan Lochte | United States | 1:56.53 | |
| 4 | 3 | Thiago Pereira | Brazil | 1:58.14 | |
| 5 | 2 | Ken Takakuwa | Japan | 1:58.22 | AS |
| 6 | 7 | James Goddard | Great Britain | 1:59.24 | |
| 7 | 8 | Keith Beavers | Canada | 1:59.43 | |
| 8 | 1 | Liam Tancock | Great Britain | 2:00.76 |