Olympic Swimming 2021: Women's 400m Individual Medley Medal Winners and Times
July 25, 2021
Yui Ohashi won Japan's second Olympic gold medal at the Tokyo Games after she took first in the women's 400-meter individual medley in the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.
Ohashi's finished with a time of 4:32.08 as she held off a late charge from the United States' Emma Weyant, who earned the silver medal. Hali Flickinger of Team USA finished with the bronze.
Katinka Hosszu of Hungary, who is the Olympic and world record holder in the 400-meter individual medley, ended in fifth place.
Here's a look at the race results, highlights and race notes.
Results
1. Yui Ohashi (Japan): 4:32.08
2. Emma Weyant (United States): 4:32.76
3. Hali Flickinger (United States): 4:34.90
4. Mireia Belmonte (Spain): 4:35.13
5. Katinka Hosszu (Hungary): 4:35.98
6. Viktoria Mihalyvari-Farkas (Hungary): 4:37.75
7. Aimee Willmott (Great Britain): 4:38.30
8. Ilaria Cusinato (Italy): 4:40.65
Highlights
#TokyoOlympics @NBCOlympicsThe host nation's Yui Ohashi wins Olympic gold for Japan in the women's 400m IM.<a href="https://twitter.com/TeamUSA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TeamUSA</a>'s Emma Weyant and Hali Flickinger win the silver and bronze. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TokyoOlympics?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TokyoOlympics</a> <a href="https://t.co/lSYry8m76K">pic.twitter.com/lSYry8m76K</a>
NYT Graphics @nytgraphics🇯🇵 <a href="https://twitter.com/Yui__Ohashi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Yui__Ohashi</a> won gold in the women’s 400-meter individual medley. 🇺🇸 Emma Weyant won silver and 🇺🇸 Hali Flickinger took the bronze. <a href="https://t.co/oGx14Hwtpn">https://t.co/oGx14Hwtpn</a> <a href="https://t.co/a1BCC5Rbi4">pic.twitter.com/a1BCC5Rbi4</a>
Race Notes
Ohashi had never won gold on the world stage, but she's certainly had her fair share of success.
The 25-year-old took silver in the 200-meter individual medley at the 2017 World Championships and bronze at the 400-meter individual medley at the 2019 World Championships.
Ohashi had never competed on the Olympic stage before, but she made the most of her debut with a fantastic performance, particularly on the breaststroke and backstroke legs.
Express Sports @IExpressSports<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Tokyo2020?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Tokyo2020</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Olympics?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Olympics</a><br><br>Japan's Ohashi Yui sobbed in joy after winning gold at Women's 400-metre individual medley. Wonderfully still head and fluidity at backstroke segment gave her a strong lead and she held on. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Swimming?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Swimming</a> <br><br>LIVE: <a href="https://t.co/lPVPlIcpaN">https://t.co/lPVPlIcpaN</a> <a href="https://t.co/CEvqhdM2qJ">pic.twitter.com/CEvqhdM2qJ</a>
Ohashi won Japan's second gold medal of the Games. The first one was courtesy of Naohisa Takato after his win in the 132-pound judo final.
Emma Weyant will be a name to watch in the present and future, as the 19-year-old turned heads with her performance on the international stage. Her performance in the freestyle portion landed her in second.
But the future Virginia Cavalier also notably dominated during her heat, as Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated wrote:
That marked her first-ever performance in an international meet.
Likewise, a strong showing in the freestyle leg propelled Flickinger onto the podium.
Flickinger had many fans in her corner:
She barely held off Mireia Belmonte, who won Olympic gold in the 200-meter butterfly in 2016.
Hosszu, who rightfully earned her "Iron Lady" moniker, looked as if she would be in position for a medal but faded a bit down the stretch. Her phenomenal resume includes 26 World Championship gold medals and three golds on the Olympic stage.