The women's 200 metre backstroke event at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

took place on 21–22 September at the

Sydney International Aquatic Centre The Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre (SOPAC) , formerly Sydney International Aquatic Centre (SIAC), is a swimming pool, swimming venue located in the Sydney Olympic Park in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Built in 1994, the SOPAC was a majo ...

Sydney, Australia Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...

. Diana Mocanu emerged as a newcomer on the international swimming, after effortlessly winning her second gold at these Games. She maintained a lead from start to finish, and posted a new Romanian record of 2:08.16, the third-fastest of all time, making her the fourth swimmer in Olympic history to strike a backstroke double, since

Ulrike Richter Ulrike Richter (later Schmidt, born 17 June 1959) is a German former swimmer who competed for East Germany in the 1970s. At the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal she won three gold medals. She received two gold medals at the 1973 World Aquatics ...

did so in 1976,

Rica Reinisch Rica Reinisch (later Assmann then Neumann; born 6 April 1965) is a retired swimmer from East Germany. She was a specialist in backstroke, setting four world records in the Moscow Games (three in 100 m backstroke: 1:01.51, 1:01.50 and 1:00.86; on ...

in 1980, and

Krisztina Egerszegi Krisztina Egerszegi (; born 16 August 1974) is a Hungarian former world record holding swimmer and one of the greatest Hungarian Olympic champions of the modern era. She is a three-time Olympian (1988, 1992 and 1996) and five-time Olympic ch ...

, the three-time champion in the event, in 1992. France's world champion

Roxana Maracineanu Roxana Maracineanu (; born 7 May 1975) is a Romanian-born French politician, former swimming champion and television consultant who served as Minister Delegate in charge of Sports in the government of Prime Minister Jean Castex (2020–2022) and ...

, born with Romanian heritage, seized off an early lead on the first length, but fell short only for the silver in 2:10.25. Japan's

Miki Nakao (born June 25, 1978 in Nagasaki, Nagasaki) is a former backstroke swimmer from Japan, who won the bronze medal in the 200m Backstroke at the 2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and ...

powered home with the bronze in 2:11.05 to hold off her fast-pacing teammate

Tomoko Hagiwara is a retired Japanese backstroke, butterfly and medley swimmer. She represented her native country at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. She is best known for winning two gold medals at the 1999 Summer Universiade The 1999 Summ ...

(2:11.21) by 16-hundredths of a second. U.S. swimmer Amanda Adkins improved a lifetime best of 2:12.35 to move herself up from seventh to fifth spot on the final half, finishing ahead of Spain's

Nina Zhivanevskaya Nina Aleksandrovna Zhivanevskaya (russian: Нина Александровна Живаневская, born 24 June 1977) is a 5-time Olympic backstroke swimmer from Russia, who has swum for Spain since 1999, following her marriage to a Spaniar ...

(2:12.75), the bronze medalist in the

100 m backstroke 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

five days earlier, by four-tenths of a second (0.40). Meanwhile, Germany's Antje Buschschulte (2:13.31) and Canada's

Kelly Stefanyshyn Kelly Stefanyshyn (born July 6, 1982) is a Canadian competitive swimmer and backstroke specialist who represented her native country at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. Stefanyshyn was a member of Canada's sixth-place team in the w ...

(2:14.57) rounded out the finale.

Records

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

Results

Heats

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Semifinal 2

Final

References

External links

Official Olympic Report
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swimming At The 2000 Summer Olympics - Women's 200 Metre Backstroke B 2000 in women's swimming Women's events at the 2000 Summer Olympics