Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's 100 metre backstroke

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Women's 100 metre backstroke
at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad
Venue Beijing National Aquatics Center
DateAugust 10, 2008 (heats)
August 11, 2008(semifinals)
August 12, 2008 (final)
Competitors49 from 38 nations
Winning time58.96 AM
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Natalie Coughlin Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Silver medal icon.svg Kirsty Coventry Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe
Bronze medal icon.svg Margaret Hoelzer Flag of the United States.svg  United States
  2004
2012  

The women'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. [1]

U.S. swimmer Natalie Coughlin set a lifetime best and an American record of 58.96 to defend her title in the event. Zimbabwe's new world record holder Kirsty Coventry added a second silver to her hardware from the 400 m individual medley two days earlier, in a time of 59.19. Coming from fifth place in the turn, Margaret Hoelzer continued her impressive form in the shorter backstroke to pick up a bronze in 59.34, handing the entire medal haul for Team USA in the pool. [2] [3]

Great Britain's Gemma Spofforth narrowly missed the podium by a twenty-fifth of a second (0.04), posting a European record of 59.38 for a fourth-place finish. Russia's Anastasia Zuyeva finished fifth in a close race at 59.40, and was followed in the sixth spot by Japan's Reiko Nakamura in 59.72. France's Laure Manaudou (1:00.10), bronze medalist in Athens four years earlier, and Japanese Hanae Ito (1:00.18) rounded out the finale. [2]

Earlier in the prelims, Zuyeva, Nakamura, and Coventry scratched out Coughlin's existing Olympic record, as they went under a time of 59.68 to lead all seeded heats. [4] The following morning, in the semifinals, Coventry blitzed the field on the final lap to set a new world record of 58.77, breaking Coughlin's mark by two-tenths of a second (0.20). [5] [6]

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.

World recordFlag of the United States.svg  Natalie Coughlin  (USA)58.97 Omaha, United States 1 July 2008 [7]
Olympic recordFlag of the United States.svg  Natalie Coughlin  (USA)59.68 Athens, Greece 21 August 2004

The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.

DateEventNameNationalityTimeRecord
August 10Heat 5 Anastasia Zuyeva Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 59.61 OR
August 10Heat 6 Reiko Nakamura Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 59.36 OR
August 10Heat 7 Kirsty Coventry Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe 59.00 OR
August 11Semifinal 2 Kirsty Coventry Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe 58.77 WR

Results

Heats

RankHeatLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
175 Kirsty Coventry Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe 59.00Q, OR
266 Reiko Nakamura Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 59.36Q, AS
354 Anastasia Zuyeva Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 59.61Q, EU
474 Natalie Coughlin Flag of the United States.svg  United States 59.69Q
565 Laure Manaudou Flag of France.svg  France 1:00.09Q
676 Gemma Spofforth Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 1:00.11Q
764 Margaret Hoelzer Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:00.13Q
863 Hanae Ito Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 1:00.16Q
955 Emily Seebohm Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 1:00.27Q
1043 Julia Wilkinson Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 1:00.38Q
1158 Antje Buschschulte Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 1:00.48Q
1252 Elizabeth Simmonds Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 1:00.53Q
1356 Nina Zhivanevskaya Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 1:00.54Q
1453 Sophie Edington Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 1:00.65Q
1571 Elizabeth Coster Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 1:00.66Q
1661 Kseniya Moskvina Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 1:00.70Q
1751 Xu Tianlongzi Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 1:00.82
1877 Fabíola Molina Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 1:01.00
1933 Carolina Colorado Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia 1:01.19 NR
2044 Melissa Ingram Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 1:01.24
2157 Kateryna Zubkova Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine 1:01.25
2262 Sanja Jovanović Flag of Croatia.svg  Croatia 1:01.30
2372 Alexianne Castel Flag of France.svg  France 1:01.44
2478 Nikolett Szepesi Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 1:01.77
2532 Anna Gostomelsky Flag of Israel.svg  Israel 1:01.87 NR
2646 Romina Armellini Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 1:02.21
48 Anja Čarman Flag of Slovenia.svg  Slovenia
2845 Mercedes Peris Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 1:02.30
2931 Sarah Sjöström Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 1:02.38
3042 Hanna-Maria Seppälä Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 1:02.39
3141 Aisling Cooney Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland 1:02.50
3237 Alana Dillette Flag of the Bahamas.svg  Bahamas 1:02.56
3314 Kiera Aitken Flag of Bermuda.svg  Bermuda 1:02.62
3434 Tsai Hiu Wai Sherry Flag of Hong Kong.svg  Hong Kong 1:02.68
3535 Fernanda González Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 1:02.76
3624 Zuzanna Mazurek Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 1:02.77 NR
3767 Iryna Amshennikova Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine 1:02.85
3825 Gisela Morales Flag of Guatemala.svg  Guatemala 1:02.92
3936 Petra Klosová Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic 1:03.36
4023 Marica Strazmester Flag of Serbia (2004-2010).svg  Serbia 1:03.56
4138 Sarah Blake Bateman Flag of Iceland.svg  Iceland 1:03.82
4268 Christin Zenner Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 1:03.87
4327 Erin Volcán Flag of Venezuela.svg  Venezuela 1:03.90
4426 Kim Yu-yeon Flag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg  South Korea 1:04.63
4522 Yekaterina Rudenko Flag of Kazakhstan.svg  Kazakhstan 1:04.85
4615 Maria Virginia Baez Flag of Paraguay (1990-2013).svg  Paraguay 1:05.39
4713 Christie Bodden Flag of Panama.svg  Panama 1:07.18
73 Zhao Jing Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China DSQ
47 Sviatlana Khakhlova Flag of Belarus (1995-2012).svg  Belarus DNS

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

RankLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
15 Natalie Coughlin Flag of the United States.svg  United States 59.43Q
24 Reiko Nakamura Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 59.64Q
33 Gemma Spofforth Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 59.79Q
46 Hanae Ito Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 1:00.13Q
57 Elizabeth Simmonds Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 1:00.39
62 Julia Wilkinson Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 1:00.60
71 Sophie Edington Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 1:01.05
88 Kseniya Moskvina Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 1:01.06

Semifinal 2

RankLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
14 Kirsty Coventry Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe 58.77Q, WR
25 Anastasia Zuyeva Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 59.77Q
36 Margaret Hoelzer Flag of the United States.svg  United States 59.84Q
43 Laure Manaudou Flag of France.svg  France 1:00.19Q
52 Emily Seebohm Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 1:00.31
61 Nina Zhivanevskaya Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 1:00.50
77 Antje Buschschulte Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 1:01.15
88 Elizabeth Coster Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 1:01.45

Final

RankLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
Gold medal icon.svg5 Natalie Coughlin Flag of the United States.svg  United States 58.96 AM
Silver medal icon.svg4 Kirsty Coventry Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe 59.19
Bronze medal icon.svg7 Margaret Hoelzer Flag of the United States.svg  United States 59.34
42 Gemma Spofforth Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 59.38 EU
56 Anastasia Zuyeva Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 59.40
63 Reiko Nakamura Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 59.72
78 Laure Manaudou Flag of France.svg  France 1:00.10
81 Hanae Ito Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 1:00.18

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Kseniya Leonidovna Moskvina is a Russian swimmer, who specialized in backstroke events. She finished fourteenth in the 100 m backstroke at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and eclipsed a European record (56.36) to claim the gold medal at the 2009 European Short Course Championships in Istanbul, Turkey, apart from two of her bronze medals obtained in the 50 m backstroke, and 4 × 100 m medley relay.

Shim Min-ji is a South Korean former swimmer, who specialized in freestyle and backstroke events. She is a two-time Olympian and a three-time relay medalist at the Asian Games (2002).

Eirini Karastergiou is a Greek former swimmer, who specialized in backstroke events. She previously held two Greek records in both 100 and 200 m backstroke, until they were all broken each by Aspasia Petradaki and Stella Boumi in 2009.

References

  1. "Olympic Swimming Schedule". USA Today. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  2. 1 2 Lohn, John (11 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Natalie Coughlin Breaks 59, Wins 100 Back Gold in American Record". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  3. "Natalie Coughlin wins gold, Margaret Hoelzer wins bronze in 100m backstroke". Los Angeles Times . 11 August 2008. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  4. Lohn, John (10 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Olympic Record Times Three, Kirsty Coventry Leads Women's 100 Back Prelims". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 14 May 2013. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  5. Lohn, John (10 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe Grabs 100 Back World Record in Semis". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 2 June 2013. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  6. "Coventry sets world record in women's 100 backstroke". Los Angeles Times . 10 August 2008. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  7. Borzi, Pat (1 July 2008). "Natalie Coughlin again lowers backstroke record". The New York Times . Retrieved 20 May 2013.