On Aug. 7, the second night of competition at the Rio Olympics, eight nations will send four swimmers each to the Olympic Aquatics Stadium deck for the final of the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay.
No other event provided such consistent drama over the last four Games.
At Sydney 2000, host Australia edged the U.S. by .19 of a second, after more than three minutes of back-and-forth in a cauldron of green-and-gold fervor. The U.S. had never previously been beaten in that race.
Michael Klim, Ian Thorpe and Co. celebrated by strumming air guitars, in response to brash American Gary Hall Jr.