The men's 100 metre backstroke event at the 2004 Olympic Games was contested at the Olympic Aquatic Centre of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex in Athens, Greece on August 15 and 16.
The men's 200 metre backstroke event at the 2004 Olympic Games was contested at the Olympic Aquatic Centre of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex in Athens, Greece on August 18 and 19. There were 36 competitors from 30 nations. Each nation had been limited to two swimmers in the event since 1984.
Aaron Wells Peirsol is an American former competition swimmer and backstroke specialist who is a former world champion and world record-holder. He is a three-time Olympian and seven-time Olympic medalist. Individually, he currently holds the world record in the 200-meter backstroke event. In February 2011, Peirsol announced his retirement, saying, "I ended up doing everything I set out to do."
The women's 4 × 100 metre medley relay took place on 20–21 August at the Olympic Aquatic Centre of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex in Athens, Greece.
Lenny Krayzelburg is an American former backstroke swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, and former world record holder. He swam in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics, winning a total of four Olympic gold medals.
Ryan Steven Lochte is an American professional swimmer and 12-time Olympic medalist. Along with Natalie Coughlin, Dara Torres, and Jenny Thompson, he is the second-most decorated swimmer in Olympic history measured by total number of medals, behind only Michael Phelps. Lochte's seven individual Olympic medals rank second in history in men's swimming, tied for second among all Olympic swimmers. He currently holds the world records in the 200-meter individual medley. As part of the American teams, he also holds the world record in the 4×200-meter freestyle and 4×100-meter freestyle (mixed) relay.
Randall Bal is an American swimmer who specialized in the backstroke. He is a former world record holder in the 50-meter backstroke.
The men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 15 and 17 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.
The men's 100 metre backstroke event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 10–12 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.
The men's 200 metre backstroke event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 13–15 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China. There were 40 competitors from 31 nations.
Hayden Ernest Stoeckel is an Olympic and national record-holding backstroke swimmer from Australia. He swam for Australia at the 2008 Olympics where he tied with Russia's Arkady Vyatchanin for the bronze medal in the 100m backstroke; in semifinals of the event he also set a new Australian and Commonwealth Record (52.97). He was also part of the Australian men's 4×100-metre medley relay team that won bronze at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Matthew Grevers is an American competition swimmer who competes in the backstroke and freestyle events, and is a six-time Olympic medalist. He has won a total of thirty-three medals in major international competition, fourteen gold, twelve silver, and seven bronze spanning the Olympics, World Championships, and the Universiade. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Grevers won gold medals as a member of the U.S. teams in the 4×100-meter freestyle and 4×100-meter medley relays, and a silver medal in the 100-meter backstroke. Four years later, at the 2012 Summer Olympics, he won gold medals in the 100-meter backstroke and the 4×100-meter medley relay, and a silver medal in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay.
Michael Fred Phelps II is an American former competitive swimmer. He is the most successful and most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold medals (23), Olympic gold medals in individual events (13), and Olympic medals in individual events (16). At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Phelps tied the record of eight medals of any color at a single Games, held by gymnast Alexander Dityatin, by winning six gold and two bronze medals. Four years later, when he won eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games, he broke fellow American swimmer Mark Spitz's 1972 record of seven first-place finishes at any single Olympic Games. At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Phelps won four gold and two silver medals, and at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, he won five gold medals and one silver. This made him the most successful athlete of the Games for the fourth Olympics in a row.
Nicholas Brewer Thoman is an American competition swimmer who specializes in the backstroke and is an Olympic gold medalist. He has won two world championships as a member of winning United States medley relay teams at the FINA World Aquatics Championships. From 2009 to 2015 he held the world record in the 100-meter backstroke. Thoman has won a total of ten medals in major international competition, four gold, three silver, and three bronze spanning the Olympics, World Championships, Pan Pacific Championships, Pan American Games, and the Summer Universiade. He was a member of the 2012 U.S. Olympic team, and won gold and silver medals at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Ryan Fitzgerald MurphyOLY is an American competitive swimmer specializing in backstroke. He is a four-time Olympic gold medalist and the former world-record holder in the men's 100-meter backstroke.
Sung Min is a South Korean former swimmer, who specialized in freestyle and backstroke events. He represented South Korea in three editions of the Olympic Games, and held multiple national championship titles and swimming records in the relay freestyle and backstroke events. Sung had also won a total of five bronze medals, including one from the 50 m backstroke, at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, South Korea, and at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar.
Pavlo Illichov is a Ukrainian former swimmer, who specialized in backstroke events. He won a silver medal in the 50 m backstroke at the 2001 European Junior Swimming Championships in Valletta, Malta (26.81). Illichov is a member of the swimming team for Dynamo Odessa, and is trained by his longtime coach and mentor Alla Timofeyeva.
Riley Janes is a Canadian former competition swimmer who specialized in freestyle and backstroke events. He is a single-time Olympian (2004), and is part of the bronze-medal Canadian medley relay team at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England.
The men's 100 metre backstroke event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place between 7–8 August at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium.
The men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro took place on 12–13 August at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium.
