Swimming at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre backstroke

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Men's 100 metre backstroke
at the Games of the XXXI Olympiad
Venue Olympic Aquatics Stadium
Dates7 August 2016 (heats &
semifinals)
8 August 2016 (final)
Competitors39 from 32 nations
Winning time51.97 OR
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Ryan Murphy Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Silver medal icon.svg Xu Jiayu Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
Bronze medal icon.svg David Plummer Flag of the United States.svg  United States
  2012
2020  

The men's 100 metre backstroke event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place between 7–8 August at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium. [1]

Summary

Ryan Murphy continued the streak of American dominance in the sprint backstroke, as he pulled away from the rest of the field to claim his country's sixth straight Olympic title. He fired off a 51.97 to eclipse Matt Grevers' 2012 Olympic record by 0.19 of a second for gold, making him the only second swimmer in the event's history besides Aaron Peirsol to break the 52-second barrier and the fastest of all-time in textile. [2] [3] Meanwhile, China's Xu Jiayu put up a brisk effort to take silver with a 52.31, and spoil the 1–2 finish for the Americans. [4] Murphy's fellowman David Plummer, aged 30, finished with bronze in 52.40 at his maiden Games. [5] [6]

Leading the race early on the initial length, Australia's defending world champion Mitch Larkin missed the podium with a fourth-place time in 52.43. [7] France's Camille Lacourt picked up the fifth spot in 52.70, with Russian swimmer and Youth Olympic champion Evgeny Rylov (52.74) trailing him by a 0.04-second margin. Japan's Ryosuke Irie (53.42), the Olympic bronze medalist from London 2012, and Romania's Robert Glință (53.50) rounded out the field. [6]

The medals for the competition were presented by Albert II, Prince of Monaco, IOC member, and the gifts were presented by Mustapha Larfaoui, FINA honorary life president.

Records

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

World recordFlag of the United States.svg  Aaron Peirsol  (USA)51.94 Indianapolis, United States8 July 2009 [8] [9]
Olympic recordFlag of the United States.svg  Matt Grevers  (USA)52.16 London, United Kingdom 30 July 2012 [10]

The following records were established during the competition:

DateRoundNameNationTimeRecord
8 AugustFinal Ryan Murphy Flag of the United States.svg  United States 51.97 OR

Murphy then set a new world record for the 100 m backstroke with a time of 51.85 seconds on August 13 in the lead-off leg as part of the 4 × 100 m medley relay.

Competition format

The competition consisted of three rounds: heats, semifinals, and a final. The swimmers with the best 16 times in the heats advanced to the semifinals. The swimmers with the best 8 times in the semifinals advanced to the final. Swim-offs were used as necessary to break ties for advancement to the next round. [1]

Results

Heats

RankHeatLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
155 Camille Lacourt Flag of France.svg  France 52.96Q
235 Xu Jiayu Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 53.01Q
354 Mitch Larkin Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 53.04Q
434 Ryan Murphy Flag of the United States.svg  United States 53.06Q
544 David Plummer Flag of the United States.svg  United States 53.19Q
633 Evgeny Rylov Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 53.25Q
751 Joshua Beaver Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 53.47Q
853 Ryosuke Irie Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 53.49Q
942 Robert Glință Flag of Romania.svg  Romania 53.51Q
1045 Chris Walker-Hebborn Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 53.54Q
1143 Grigoriy Tarasevich Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 53.65Q
1246 Christopher Reid Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa 53.68Q
1356 Guilherme Guido Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 53.80Q
1431 Shane Ryan Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland 53.85Q, NR
1532 Jan-Philip Glania Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 53.87Q
1626 Corey Main Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 53.99Q
1747 Javier Acevedo Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 54.11
1852 Apostolos Christou Flag of Greece.svg  Greece 54.12
1957 Junya Hasegawa Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 54.17
2021 Hugo González Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 54.18
2125 Li Guangyuan Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 54.36
2248 Quah Zheng Wen Flag of Singapore.svg  Singapore 54.38
2341 Radosław Kawęcki Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 54.39
2424 Danas Rapšys Flag of Lithuania.svg  Lithuania 54.40
2538 Gábor Balog Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 54.48
2623 Tomasz Polewka Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 54.52
2737 Yakov Toumarkin Flag of Israel.svg  Israel 54.66
2836 Simone Sabbioni Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 54.91
2958 Mikita Tsmyh Flag of Belarus.svg  Belarus 54.97
3027 Won Young-jun Flag of South Korea.svg  South Korea 55.05
3128 Albert Subirats Flag of Venezuela.svg  Venezuela 55.44
3222 Viktar Staselovich Flag of Belarus.svg  Belarus 55.68
3314 Merdan Ataýew Flag of Turkmenistan.svg  Turkmenistan 56.34 NR
3415 Timothy Wynter Flag of Jamaica.svg  Jamaica 57.20
3513 David Van der Colff Flag of Botswana.svg  Botswana 57.77
3616 Driss Lahrichi Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco 58.01
3712 Yaaqoub Al-Saadi Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg  United Arab Emirates 59.58
3811 Hamdan Bayusuf Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 1:00.28
3917 Noah Al-Khulaifi Flag of Qatar.svg  Qatar 1:07.47

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

RankLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
15 Ryan Murphy Flag of the United States.svg  United States 52.49Q
24 Xu Jiayu Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 52.73Q
33 Evgeny Rylov Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 52.84Q
46 Irie Ryosuke Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 53.21Q
57 Christopher Reid Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa 53.70
62 Chris Walker-Hebborn Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 53.75
78 Corey Main Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 54.29
81 Shane Ryan Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland 54.40

Semifinal 2

RankLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
13 David Plummer Flag of the United States.svg  United States 52.50Q
25 Mitch Larkin Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 52.70Q
34 Camille Lacourt Flag of France.svg  France 52.72Q
42 Robert Glință Flag of Romania.svg  Romania 53.34Q, NR
57 Grigoriy Tarasevich Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 53.46
68 Jan-Philip Glania Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 53.94
76 Joshua Beaver Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 53.95
81 Guilherme Guido Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 54.16

Final

RankLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
Gold medal icon.svg4 Ryan Murphy Flag of the United States.svg  United States 51.97 OR
Silver medal icon.svg2 Xu Jiayu Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 52.31 NR
Bronze medal icon.svg5 David Plummer Flag of the United States.svg  United States 52.40
43 Mitch Larkin Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 52.43
56 Camille Lacourt Flag of France.svg  France 52.70
67 Evgeny Rylov Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 52.74
71 Ryosuke Irie Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 53.42
88 Robert Glință Flag of Romania.svg  Romania 53.50

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References

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