Olympic Swimming 2016: Men's 4x100M Freestyle Relay Medal Winners and Times

The most decorated medal winner in Olympic history added another gold to his collection in the men's 4x100-meter freestyle relay at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday. 

Michael Phelps won his 23rd career medal as he, Caeleb Dressel, Ryan Held and anchor Nathan Adrian captured the gold for the United States with a blistering time of three minutes, 9.92 seconds. France (3:10.53) won the silver, while Australia (3:11.37) took home the bronze:

Position	Country	Time
1	United States	3:09.92
2	France	3:10.53
3	Australia	3:11.37
4	Russia	3:11.64
5	Brazil	3:13.21
6	Belgium	3:13.57
7	Canada	3:14.35
8	Japan	3:14.48

Nicole Auerbach of USA Today provided a look at the split times for the four swimmers:

Dressel got things started for the Americans and put them in second place behind France in the opening leg. He turned in a time of 48.1 seconds, which put Phelps in position to assert his dominance.

That's exactly what the now-19-time gold medalist did, as he gave the United States the lead with a formidable second leg. According to Nick Zaccardi of NBC Sports' Olympic Talk, Phelps' split was 0.03 seconds faster than the time he turned in during the race in London in 2012.

Derek Young of Scout.com provided a simple summary of what happened Sunday:

Held maintained the lead for the United States and gave Adrian the chance to clinch the victory. The sprinter did just that as the Americans defeated France, Australia and the rest of the field. Pat Forde of Yahoo Sports called it "unexpected" but noted the Americans had a clear blueprint to victory: 

According to Paul Carr of ESPN Stats & Info, the United States has earned nine gold medals in 12 attempts in the event. Despite the dominance, the Americans have a dramatic history in the 4x100-meter relay. 

Forde, then writing for ESPN.com, described their win at the 2008 Beijing Games as "what might have been the greatest comeback swim in Olympic history" as Jason Lezak overtook the French team in the final 50 meters after Alain Bernard said France would "smash" the United States. Phelps was also the first swimmer in that event.

France earned some revenge with a win in 2012, but the Americans were the dominant force Sunday.

As for Phelps, Sunday's win marked his Rio Olympics debut, and he is off to a blazing start. According to Rolando Rosa of CBS Sports, he will also compete in the 100- and 200-meter butterfly and 200-meter individual medley. He is also expected to be in the field for the 4x200-meter freestyle relay and 4x100-meter medley relay.

Considering Phelps became the first male swimmer to win the gold in the 100-meter butterfly and 200-meter individual medley in three straight Olympics after his performance in London, per Rosa, he is well-positioned to add to his medal count as the Rio Games move forward.

He and his teammates looked golden Sunday.

Post-Race Reaction

Phelps touched on the American team’s recent history in this event after the race on the NBC broadcast, via Chris Chase of Fox Sports: “We wanted to bring that relay back to American soil. We had some sour taste in our mouth from 2012 and I'm glad that's back on our soil.”

Phelps may have more medals than anyone in Olympic history, but he said the nerves were still there on Sunday, per Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press: “When I was on the block I honestly thought my heart was going to explode out of my chest. I was so hyped and so excited.” 

He controlled those nerves and helped his team win the gold and celebrate in the aftermath, via NBC Olympics:

There will be plenty more hugs for the American swim team if Sunday’s 4x100-meter freestyle relay was any indication.