Swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre backstroke

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Men's 200 metre backstroke
at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad
Swimming pictogram.svg
Swimming pictogram
Venue Tokyo Aquatics Centre
Dates28 July 2021 (heats)
29 July 2021 (semifinals)
30 July 2021 (final)
Competitors29 from 23 nations
Winning time1:53.27 OR
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Evgeny Rylov Russian Olympic Committee flag.png  ROC
Silver medal icon.svg Ryan Murphy Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Bronze medal icon.svg Luke Greenbank Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain
  2016
2024  

The men's 200 metre backstroke event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held from 28 to 30 July 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. [1] There will be approximately 30 competitors from approximately 20 nations, with the ultimate numbers determined through the ongoing selection process, including universality places. [2]

Background

This was the 16th appearance of the 200 metre backstroke event. It was first held in 1900. The event did not return until 1964; since then, it has been on the programme at every Summer Games. From 1904 to 1960, a men's 100 metre backstroke was held instead. In 1964, only the 200 metres was held. Beginning in 1968 and ever since, both the 100 and 200 metre versions have been held.

Of the 2016 finalists, defending Olympic champion Ryan Murphy returned, along with bronze medalist Evgeny Rylov of Russia (competing under the ROC banner), fourth-place finisher Xu Jiayu of China, seventh-place finisher Christian Diener of Germany, and eighth-place finisher (and 2012 silver medalist) Ryosuke Irie of Japan. Rylov had won the 2017 and 2019 World Championships with Murphy finishing second both times.

Summary

After his win in the shorter backstroke event days earlier, Russia's Evgeny Rylov set an Olympic record of 1:53.27 to take gold and complete the backstroke double. While he led wire-to-wire after the first lap, Rylov extended his margin over the field to collect his second individual gold. The U.S.' Ryan Murphy trailed Great Britain's Luke Greenbank at the 50 m mark, but moved through the field to collect silver in 1:54.15 – almost a second behind Rylov. Meanwhile, Greenbank could not maintain his margin over Murphy after the first turn, taking bronze in 1:54.72.

The U.S.' Bryce Mefford could not join his teammate Murphy on the podium, falling to fourth place to 1:55.49. Hungary's Ádám Telegdy touched in 1:56.15, edging out Poland's Radosław Kawęcki (1:56.39) by 0.24 seconds. Competing at his fourth Olympics, Japanese backstroke stalwart and 2012 silver medallist Ryosuke Irie (1:57.32) came seventh while Spain's Nicolás García (1:59.06) rounded out the field.

Qualification

The Olympic Qualifying Time for the event was 1:57.50. Up to two swimmers per National Olympic Committee (NOC) could automatically qualify by swimming that time at an approved qualification event. The Olympic Selection Time was 2:01.03. Up to one swimmer per NOC meeting that time was eligible for selection, allocated by world ranking until the maximum quota for all swimming events was reached. NOCs without a male swimmer qualified in any event could also use their universality place. [3]

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. [4]

Records

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

World recordFlag of the United States.svg  Aaron Peirsol  (USA)1:51.92 Rome, Italy 31 July 2009 [5] [6]
Olympic recordFlag of the United States.svg  Tyler Clary  (USA)1:53.41 London, United Kingdom 2 August 2012 [7]

The following records was established during the competition:

DateEventSwimmerNationTimeRecord
July 30Final Evgeny Rylov Russian Olympic Committee flag.png  ROC 1:53.27 OR

Schedule

All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9) [1]

DateTimeRound
28 July 202119:21Heats
29 July 202111:04Semifinals
30 July 202110:50Final

Results

Heats

The swimmers with the top 16 times, regardless of heat, advance to the semifinals. [8]

RankHeatLaneSwimmerNationTimeNotes
124 Luke Greenbank Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 1:54.63Q
244 Evgeny Rylov Russian Olympic Committee flag.png  ROC 1:56.02Q
345 Bryce Mefford Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:56.37Q
421 Lee Ju-ho Flag of South Korea.svg  South Korea 1:56.77Q, NR
514 Grigory Tarasevich Russian Olympic Committee flag.png  ROC 1:56.82Q
626 Radosław Kawęcki Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 1:56.83Q
734 Ryan Murphy Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:56.92Q
825 Ryosuke Irie Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 1:56.97Q
943 Keita Sunama Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 1:57.07Q
1042 Tristan Hollard Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 1:57.24Q
1136 Roman Mityukov Civil Ensign of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland 1:57.45Q
1246 Brodie Williams Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 1:57.48Q
1348 Nicolás García Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 1:57.62Q
1423 Ádám Telegdy Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 1:57.70Q
1535 Xu Jiayu Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 1:57.76Q, WD
1627 Markus Thormeyer Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 1:57.85Q
1733 Yohann Ndoye-Brouard Flag of France.svg  France 1:57.96Q
1847 Jan Čejka Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic 1:58.02
1941 Christian Diener Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 1:58.27
2032 Matteo Restivo Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 1:58.36
2115 Martin Binedell Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa 1:58.47
2231 Francisco Santos Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal 1:58.58
2328 Berke Saka Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey 1:58.66
2422 Kaloyan Levterov Flag of Bulgaria.svg  Bulgaria 1:58.96
2537 Mewen Tomac Flag of France.svg  France 1:59.02
2616 Robert Glință Flag of Romania.svg  Romania 1:59.18
2738 Jakub Skierka Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 1:59.30
2813 Yakov Toumarkin Flag of Israel.svg  Israel 1:59.65
2912 Merdan Ataýew Flag of Turkmenistan.svg  Turkmenistan 2:03.68

Semifinals

The swimmers with the best 8 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the final. [9]

RankHeatLaneSwimmerNationTimeNotes
114 Evgeny Rylov Russian Olympic Committee flag.png  ROC 1:54.45Q
224 Luke Greenbank Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 1:54.98Q
326 Ryan Murphy Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:55.38Q
411 Ádám Telegdy Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 1:56.19Q
521 Nicolás García Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 1:56.35Q
625 Bryce Mefford Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:56.37Q
713 Radosław Kawęcki Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 1:56.68Q
816 Ryosuke Irie Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 1:56.69Q
918 Yohann Ndoye-Brouard Flag of France.svg  France 1:56.83
1012 Tristan Hollard Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 1:56.92
1115 Lee Ju-ho Flag of South Korea.svg  South Korea 1:56.93
1223 Grigory Tarasevich Russian Olympic Committee flag.png  ROC 1:57.06
1327 Roman Mityukov Civil Ensign of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland 1:57.07
1422 Keita Sunama Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 1:57.16
1517 Brodie Williams Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 1:57.73
1628 Markus Thormeyer Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 1:59.36

Final

[10]

RankLaneSwimmerNationTimeNotes
Gold medal icon.svg4 Evgeny Rylov Russian Olympic Committee flag.png  ROC 1:53.27 OR
Silver medal icon.svg3 Ryan Murphy Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:54.15
Bronze medal icon.svg5 Luke Greenbank Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 1:54.72
47 Bryce Mefford Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:55.49
56 Ádám Telegdy Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 1:56.15
61 Radosław Kawęcki Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 1:56.39
78 Ryosuke Irie Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 1:57.32
82 Nicolás García Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 1:59.06

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References

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  8. "Heats results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 July 2021. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  9. "Semifinals results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 July 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  10. "Final results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 August 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2021.