The women's 100 metre backstroke event at the 2024 Summer Olympics was held from 29 to 30 July 2024 at Paris La Défense Arena, which was converted to a swimming pool for the swimming events.[1] Since an Olympic size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of two lengths of the pool.
In the final, Smith and Masse led at the halfway point, but McKeown ended up winning the gold with a new Olympic record of 57.33. Smith won silver and Berkoff won bronze.
Each National Olympic Committee (NOC) was permitted to enter a maximum of two qualified athletes in each individual event, but only if both of them had attained the Olympic Qualifying Time (OQT).[4] For this event, the OQT was 59.99 seconds. World Aquatics then filled the rest of the event places with athletes qualifying through universality; NOCs were given one event entry for each gender, which could be used by any athlete regardless of qualification time, providing the spaces had not already been taken by athletes from that nation who had achieved the OQT.[4][5] In total, 20 athletes qualified through achieving the OQT, while 16 athletes qualified through universality places.[5]
Five heats took place on 29 July 2024, starting at 11:13.[6][a] The swimmers with the best 16 times in the heats advanced to the semifinals.[7] Berkoff qualified with the fastest time of 57.99, Smith qualified in second and McKeown in third.[8]Carmen Weiler broke Spain's national record by 0.19 seconds, setting it at 59.57 to qualify.[9]
Two semifinals took place on 29 July, starting at 21:01.[10] The swimmers with the best eight times in the semifinals advanced to the final.[7] Smith won the first semifinal with a time of 57.97 seconds, while McKeown won the second in 57.99.[11]
The final took place at 21:00 on 30 July.[12] Smith and Masse led at the 50 metre mark, both splitting 28.02. Berkoff split third with 28.05 and McKeown fourth with 28.08.[13] Over the last 50 metres, McKeown elevated herself to first to win the gold medal with a time of 57.33 seconds.[14][13] Smith won the silver with 57.66, Berkoff won bronze with 57.98 and Masse finished fourth.[13]
Smith spent the longest underwater and had the fastest average underwater pace,[b] while McKeown had the fastest pace during the non-underwater sections. McKeown did 70 strokes throughout the race,[c] which was the least of the top 4 swimmers; Masse did 75, Smith did 76 and Berkoff did 77.[13]
McKeown's winning time of 57.33 broke her own Olympic Record from Tokyo, matched her former world record in the event and won her her fourth gold medal.[15][16] She later went on to win the 200 metre backstroke as well, which made her the first swimmer to win both the 100 metre and 200 metre backstroke events at consecutive Olympics.[17][18] Later at the Paris Games, Smith broke McKeown's Olympic record with a time of 57.28, which she swam in the opening leg of the women's 4 × 100 metre medley relay.[19]
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