Women's 100 metre backstroke at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad | |||||||||||||
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Venue | Beijing National Aquatics Center | ||||||||||||
Date | August 10, 2008 (heats) August 11, 2008(semifinals) August 12, 2008 (final) | ||||||||||||
Competitors | 49 from 38 nations | ||||||||||||
Winning time | 58.96 AM | ||||||||||||
Medalists | |||||||||||||
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Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics | ||
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Qualification | ||
Freestyle | ||
50 m | men | women |
100 m | men | women |
200 m | men | women |
400 m | men | women |
800 m | women | |
1500 m | men | |
Backstroke | ||
100 m | men | women |
200 m | men | women |
Breaststroke | ||
100 m | men | women |
200 m | men | women |
Butterfly | ||
100 m | men | women |
200 m | men | women |
Individual medley | ||
200 m | men | women |
400 m | men | women |
Freestyle relay | ||
4×100 m | men | women |
4×200 m | men | women |
Medley relay | ||
4×100 m | men | women |
Marathon | ||
10 km | men | women |
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]
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
World record | Natalie Coughlin (USA) | 58.97 | Omaha, United States | 1 July 2008 | [7] |
Olympic record | Natalie Coughlin (USA) | 59.68 | Athens, Greece | 21 August 2004 |
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
August 10 | Heat 5 | Anastasia Zuyeva | Russia | 59.61 | OR |
August 10 | Heat 6 | Reiko Nakamura | Japan | 59.36 | OR |
August 10 | Heat 7 | Kirsty Coventry | Zimbabwe | 59.00 | OR |
August 11 | Semifinal 2 | Kirsty Coventry | Zimbabwe | 58.77 | WR |
Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 5 | Natalie Coughlin | United States | 59.43 | Q |
2 | 4 | Reiko Nakamura | Japan | 59.64 | Q |
3 | 3 | Gemma Spofforth | Great Britain | 59.79 | Q |
4 | 6 | Hanae Ito | Japan | 1:00.13 | Q |
5 | 7 | Elizabeth Simmonds | Great Britain | 1:00.39 | |
6 | 2 | Julia Wilkinson | Canada | 1:00.60 | |
7 | 1 | Sophie Edington | Australia | 1:01.05 | |
8 | 8 | Kseniya Moskvina | Russia | 1:01.06 |
Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 4 | Kirsty Coventry | Zimbabwe | 58.77 | Q, WR |
2 | 5 | Anastasia Zuyeva | Russia | 59.77 | Q |
3 | 6 | Margaret Hoelzer | United States | 59.84 | Q |
4 | 3 | Laure Manaudou | France | 1:00.19 | Q |
5 | 2 | Emily Seebohm | Australia | 1:00.31 | |
6 | 1 | Nina Zhivanevskaya | Spain | 1:00.50 | |
7 | 7 | Antje Buschschulte | Germany | 1:01.15 | |
8 | 8 | Elizabeth Coster | New Zealand | 1:01.45 |
Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
5 | Natalie Coughlin | United States | 58.96 | AM | |
4 | Kirsty Coventry | Zimbabwe | 59.19 | ||
7 | Margaret Hoelzer | United States | 59.34 | ||
4 | 2 | Gemma Spofforth | Great Britain | 59.38 | EU |
5 | 6 | Anastasia Zuyeva | Russia | 59.40 | |
6 | 3 | Reiko Nakamura | Japan | 59.72 | |
7 | 8 | Laure Manaudou | France | 1:00.10 | |
8 | 1 | Hanae Ito | Japan | 1:00.18 |
The women'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 19 and 20.
The women'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.
Natalie Anne Coughlin Hall is an American former competition swimmer and twelve-time Olympic medalist. While attending the University of California, Berkeley, she became the first woman ever to swim the 100-meter backstroke in less than one minute—ten days before her 20th birthday in 2002. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, she became the first U.S. female athlete in modern Olympic history to win six medals in one Olympiad, and the first woman ever to win a 100-meter backstroke gold in two consecutive Olympics. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she earned a bronze medal in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay.
Kirsty Leigh Coventry Seward is a Zimbabwean swimmer and politician currently serving as the Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation in the Cabinet of Zimbabwe since September 2018. A former Olympic swimmer and world record holder, she is the most decorated Olympian from Africa. She is a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and was elected the Chairperson of the IOC Athletes' Commission, the body that represents all Olympic athletes worldwide in early 2018.
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Gemma Mary Spofforth is an English former competition swimmer who represented Great Britain in the Olympics, FINA world championships and European championships, and England in the Commonwealth Games. Spofforth is the former world record-holder and former world champion in the 100-metre backstroke, and won a total of eight medals in major international championships.
Margaret Josephine Hoelzer is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder. Hoelzer competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics and the 2008 Olympic Games.
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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 100 metre breaststroke event at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place on 9–11 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.
The women's 100 metre freestyle event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 13–15 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.
The women's 200 metre backstroke event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 14–16 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.
The women's 200 metre individual medley event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 11–13 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.
Hayley McGregory is an English-born American competition swimmer. She is a former world-record holder in the 50 and 100-meter backstroke, and is the first woman to break a world record held by Natalie Coughlin in the 100-meter backstroke.
The women's 100 metre backstroke event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 29–30 July at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom.
The women's 200-metre backstroke event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 2–3 August at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom.
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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.
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