Swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre backstroke

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Men's 100 metre backstroke
at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad
Venue Tokyo Aquatics Centre
Dates25 July 2021 (heats)
26 July 2021 (semifinals)
27 July 2021 (final)
Competitors41 from 30 nations
Winning time51.98
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Evgeny Rylov Russian Olympic Committee flag.png  ROC
Silver medal icon.svg Kliment Kolesnikov Russian Olympic Committee flag.png  ROC
Bronze medal icon.svg Ryan Murphy Flag of the United States.svg  United States
  2016
2024  

The men's 100 metre backstroke event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held from 25 to 27 July 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. [1] It was the event's twenty-sixth appearance, having been held at every edition since 1904 except 1964. Moreover, these Games marked the first time when the men's sprint backstroke event was held in Tokyo, as the event was not included in the swimming program in 1964.

Traditionally, the event has been dominated by Americans, who have won 15 gold medals in 25 Olympic men's 100 metre backstroke competitions, and all gold medals in the event since 1996. This time, 2016 Olympic bronze medalist and 2019 World Championship silver medalist Evgeny Rylov edged his compatriot Kliment Kolesnikov and defending Olympic champion and world record holder Ryan Murphy, who did not medal in 2019, to win first gold by a Russian in this event and also the first gold medal in swimming by a Russian since Larisa Ilchenko won the open water competition in 2008. Rylov subsequently repeated the gold medal performance in his signature 200 metres backstroke race.

Leading at the turn by 6 one-hundredths of a second over Rylov, Kolesnikov could not maintain his lead and settled for silver just 0.02 seconds behind in 52.00. Despite a late charge, Murphy could not overtake the Russian duo, settling for bronze in 52.19.

Italy's Thomas Ceccon clocked a national record of 52.30 to fall short of the podium, placing fourth. Meanwhile China's two-time defending World champion Xu Jiayu (52.51) fell to fifth, while Spain's Hugo González (52.78) edged Australia's Mitch Larkin (52.79) by one one-hundredth of a second to take sixth. Romania's Robert Glință (52.95) clocked a sub-53 time to round out the field.

Records

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

World recordFlag of the United States.svg  Ryan Murphy  (USA)51.85 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 13 August 2016 [2] [3]
Olympic recordFlag of the United States.svg  Ryan Murphy  (USA)51.85 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 13 August 2016 [2] [3]

No new records were set during the competition.

Qualification

The Olympic Qualifying Time for the event was 53.85 seconds. 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 55.47 seconds. 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 is reached. NOCs without a male swimmer qualified in any event could also use their universality place. [4]

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. [5]

Schedule

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

DateTimeRound
25 July 202119:51Heats
26 July 202111:31Semifinals
27 July 202110:59Final

Results

Heats

The swimmers with the top 16 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the semifinals. [6]

RankHeatLaneSwimmerNationTimeNotes
154 Kliment Kolesnikov Russian Olympic Committee flag.png  ROC 52.15Q
253 Thomas Ceccon Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 52.49Q, NR
344 Xu Jiayu Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 52.70Q
455 Mitch Larkin Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 52.97Q
552 Ryosuke Irie Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 52.99Q
662 Yohann Ndoye-Brouard Flag of France.svg  France 53.13Q
764 Evgeny Rylov Russian Olympic Committee flag.png  ROC 53.22Q
65 Ryan Murphy Flag of the United States.svg  United States 53.22Q
956 Hugo González Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 53.45Q
1043 Mewen Tomac Flag of France.svg  France 53.49Q
1146 Guilherme Guido Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 53.65Q
1266 Robert Glință Flag of Romania.svg  Romania 53.67Q
1347 Isaac Cooper Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 53.73Q
1435 Marek Ulrich Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 53.74Q
1545 Hunter Armstrong Flag of the United States.svg  United States 53.77Q
63 Apostolos Christou Flag of Greece.svg  Greece 53.77Q
1742 Luke Greenbank Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 53.79
57 Simone Sabbioni Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 53.79
1967 Markus Thormeyer Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 53.80
2038 Guilherme Basseto Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 53.84
58 Lee Ju-ho Flag of South Korea.svg  South Korea 53.84
2232 Quah Zheng Wen Flag of Singapore.svg  Singapore 53.94
2326 Kacper Stokowski Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 53.99
2451 Pieter Coetze Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa 54.05
2534 Ole Braunschweig Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 54.14
2661 Cole Pratt Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 54.27
2736 Srihari Nataraj Flag of India.svg  India 54.31
2822 Francisco Santos Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal 54.35 NR
2948 Ádám Telegdy Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 54.42
3025 Jan Čejka Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic 54.69
3137 Yakov Toumarkin Flag of Israel.svg  Israel 54.81
3223 Dylan Carter Flag of Trinidad and Tobago.svg  Trinidad and Tobago 54.82
3331 Mikita Tsmyh Flag of Belarus.svg  Belarus 54.88
3414 Merdan Atayev Flag of Turkmenistan.svg  Turkmenistan 55.24
3533 Bernhard Reitshammer Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 55.26
3624 Michael Laitarovsky Flag of Israel.svg  Israel 55.34
3727 Kaloyan Levterov Flag of Bulgaria.svg  Bulgaria 55.60
3841 Daniel Martin Flag of Romania.svg  Romania 56.91
3915 Gabriel Castillo Flag of Bolivia.svg  Bolivia 58.24
4013 Heriniavo Rasolonjatovo Flag of Madagascar.svg  Madagascar 59.81
68 Richárd Bohus Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary DSQ

Semifinals

The swimmers with the best 8 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the final. [7]

RankHeatLaneSwimmerNationTimeNotes
116 Ryan Murphy Flag of the United States.svg  United States 52.24Q
224 Kliment Kolesnikov Russian Olympic Committee flag.png  ROC 52.29Q
315 Mitch Larkin Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 52.76Q
414 Thomas Ceccon Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 52.78Q
526 Evgeny Rylov Russian Olympic Committee flag.png  ROC 52.91Q
625 Xu Jiayu Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 52.94Q
722 Hugo González Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 53.05Q
817 Robert Glință Flag of Romania.svg  Romania 53.20Q
923 Ryosuke Irie Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 53.21
28 Hunter Armstrong Flag of the United States.svg  United States 53.21
1118 Apostolos Christou Flag of Greece.svg  Greece 53.41
1221 Isaac Cooper Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 53.43
1311 Marek Ulrich Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 53.54
1412 Mewen Tomac Flag of France.svg  France 53.62
1527 Guilherme Guido Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 53.80
13 Yohann Ndoye-Brouard Flag of France.svg  France DSQ

Final

[8]

RankLaneSwimmerNationTimeNotes
Gold medal icon.svg2 Evgeny Rylov Russian Olympic Committee flag.png  ROC 51.98 ER
Silver medal icon.svg5 Kliment Kolesnikov Russian Olympic Committee flag.png  ROC 52.00
Bronze medal icon.svg4 Ryan Murphy Flag of the United States.svg  United States 52.19
46 Thomas Ceccon Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 52.30 NR
57 Xu Jiayu Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 52.51
61 Hugo González Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 52.78
73 Mitch Larkin Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 52.79
88 Robert Glință Flag of Romania.svg  Romania 52.95

References

  1. 1 2 "Tokyo 2020: Swimming Schedule". Tokyo 2020 . Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  2. 1 2 Stubbs, Roman (13 August 2016). "Michael Phelps wins gold in 4×100-meter medley relay in final Olympic race; Ryan Murphy breaks 100 back world record". The Washington Post . Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  3. 1 2 "Ryan Murphy Downs 100 Backstroke World Record to Open 400 Medley Relay". Swimming World Magazine. 13 August 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  4. "Tokyo 2020 – FINA Swimming Qualification System" (PDF). Tokyo 2020 . FINA . Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  5. "FINA Swimming Rulebook, 2017–21" (PDF). FINA. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  6. "Heats Results Summary" (PDF). 2020 Summer Olympics . Omega SA. 25 July 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 August 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  7. "Semifinals Results Summary" (PDF). 2020 Summer Olympics . Omega SA. 26 July 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 August 2021. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  8. "Final results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 August 2021. Retrieved 1 August 2021.