Olympic Champion Yui Ohashi Misses Paris Qualification In 400 IM

By Retta Race on SwimSwam

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The women’s 400m IM podium at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games is guaranteed to look different than Tokyo as reigning gold medalist Yui Ohashi missed qualification.

Racing in the finals at the Japanese Olympic Trials this evening, 28-year-old double Olympic champion Ohashi wound up in 4th place, producing a time of 4:38.89.

As we warned what could happen in our preview of this event, Ohashi was outshined by the rising stars within the nation.

17-year-old Mio Narita busted out a new lifetime best and Japanese High School Record of 4:35.40 en route to winning tonight’s race. Narita’s effort easily dipped under the Japanese Swimming Federation (JASF)-mandated selection standard of 4:38.53 needed to qualify for Paris, further solidifying her as a bonafide threat for a medal this summer.

Narita’s result overtook her previous PB, which stood at 4:36.72 notched in 2022 to hold the World Junior Record briefly. Narita now checks in as Japan’s #3 performer in history and the #2 swimmer in the world this season.

After Narita was Ageha Tanigawa who touched a hair behind in 4:35.60. That shaved .05 off her previous career-quickest result of 4:35.65 put up for silver at last year’s Asian Games. She, too, added her name to the Japanese roster for Paris with her performance.

Ohashi topped the Tokyo 4IM podium in a time of 4:32.08. It was 3 years earlier when Ohashi posted her personal best and Japanese national record of 4:30.82 to rank as the 7th-best performer in history.

In the past couple of years, however, Ohashi has been a tier down in terms of performance. She notched a time of 4:37.99 to place 5th at the 2022 World Championships while her quickest effort in 2023 came last December when she put up 4:39.08 at the Japan Open.

Ohashi’s misfire resembles Olympic teammate Daiya Seto‘s missed opportunity in the men’s edition of the 400m IM. Seto did land on the podium here with silver but his result was outside the JASF QT, rendering him off the Olympic roster.

As with Seto, Ohashi will have another Olympic qualification chance in the 200m IM event.

SwimSwam: Olympic Champion Yui Ohashi Misses Paris Qualification In 400 IM