Women's 200 metre backstroke at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Venue | Beijing National Aquatics Center | ||||||||||||
Date | August 14, 2008 (heats) August 15, 2008 (semifinals) August 16, 2008 (final) | ||||||||||||
Competitors | 35 from 24 nations | ||||||||||||
Winning time | 2:05.24 WR | ||||||||||||
Medalists | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics | ||
---|---|---|
![]() | ||
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 200 metre backstroke event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 14–16 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China. [1]
After claiming three silver medals at these Games, Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry stormed home on the final lap to defend her Olympic title in the event. She posted a time of 2:05.24 to crush a world record set by U.S. swimmer Margaret Hoelzer from the Olympic trials one month earlier. [2] Meanwhile, Hoelzer added a silver to her hardware from the 100 m backstroke, when she touched the wall in 2:06.23, the second-fastest effort of her career. [3] [4] Japan's Reiko Nakamura managed to repeat a bronze from Athens four years earlier, in an Asian record of 2:07.13. [5]
Russia's top favorite Anastasia Zuyeva finished fourth with a time of 2:07.88, and was followed in the fifth spot by American teenager Elizabeth Beisel, aged 16, in 2:08.23. Elizabeth Simmonds set a new British record of 2:08.51 to earn a sixth spot, while Aussies Meagan Nay (2:08.84) and Belinda Hocking (2:10.12) closed out the field. [5] [6] Notable swimmers missed out the top 8 final, featuring Russia's Stanislava Komarova, silver medalist in Athens, and British top favorite Gemma Spofforth. [5]
Before her breakthrough final, Coventry broke one of the oldest Olympic records earlier in the prelims. She posted a top-seeded time of 2:06.76 to lead 34 other swimmers in the race, slashing four-tenths of a second (0.40) off the record set by Hungary's three-time Olympic champion Krisztina Egerszegi from Barcelona in 1992. [7] [8]
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
World record | ![]() | 2:06.09 | Omaha, United States | 5 July 2008 | [9] |
Olympic record | ![]() | 2:07.06 | Barcelona, Spain | 31 July 1992 | - |
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
August 14 | Heat 4 | Kirsty Coventry | ![]() | 2:06.76 | OR |
August 16 | Final | Kirsty Coventry | ![]() | 2:05.24 | WR |
Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 3 | Elizabeth Beisel | ![]() | 2:07.90 | Q |
2 | 7 | Reiko Nakamura | ![]() | 2:08.21 | Q, NR |
3 | 4 | Elizabeth Simmonds | ![]() | 2:08.96 | Q |
4 | 8 | Gemma Spofforth | ![]() | 2:09.19 | |
5 | 5 | Zhao Jing | ![]() | 2:09.59 | |
6 | 6 | Melissa Ingram | ![]() | 2:09.70 | |
7 | 1 | Hanae Ito | ![]() | 2:09.86 | |
8 | 2 | Laure Manaudou | ![]() | 2:12.04 |
Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 4 | Kirsty Coventry | ![]() | 2:07.76 | Q |
2 | 5 | Meagen Nay | ![]() | 2:08.09 | Q, OC |
3 | 6 | Margaret Hoelzer | ![]() | 2:08.25 | Q |
4 | 7 | Belinda Hocking | ![]() | 2:08.80 | Q |
5 | 3 | Anastasia Zuyeva | ![]() | 2:09.07 | Q |
6 | 2 | Alexianne Castel | ![]() | 2:10.04 | |
7 | 1 | Stanislava Komarova | ![]() | 2:10.50 | |
8 | 8 | Anja Čarman | ![]() | 2:12.46 |
Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | 4 | Kirsty Coventry | ![]() | 2:05.24 | WR |
![]() | 2 | Margaret Hoelzer | ![]() | 2:06.23 | |
![]() | 6 | Reiko Nakamura | ![]() | 2:07.13 | AS |
4 | 8 | Anastasia Zuyeva | ![]() | 2:07.88 | |
5 | 5 | Elizabeth Beisel | ![]() | 2:08.23 | |
6 | 1 | Elizabeth Simmonds | ![]() | 2:08.51 | NR |
7 | 3 | Meagen Nay | ![]() | 2:08.84 | |
8 | 7 | Belinda Hocking | ![]() | 2:10.12 |