The men's 100 metre backstroke event at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

took place between 7–8 August at the

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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 Matthew Grevers (born March 26, 1985) is an American competition swimmer who competes in the backstroke and freestyle events, and is a six-time Olympic medalist. He has won a total of thirty-three medals in major international competition, four ...

' 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 Aaron Wells Peirsol (born July 23, 1983) is an American former competition swimmer and backstroke specialist who is a former world champion and world record-holder. He is a three-time Olympian and seven-time Olympic medalist (five gold, two si ...

to break the 52-second barrier and the fastest of all-time in textile. Meanwhile, China's

Xu Jiayu Xu Jiayu (; born 19 August 1995) is a Chinese competitive swimmer who specializes in the backstroke. He is the Olympic Silver medalist ( 2016 Rio de Janeiro) and twice consecutive world champion ( 2017 Budapest and 2019 Gwangju) in the 100 met ...

put up a brisk effort to take silver with a 52.31, and spoil the 1–2 finish for the Americans. Murphy's fellowman David Plummer, aged 30, finished with bronze in 52.40 at his maiden Games. Leading the race early on the initial length, Australia's defending world champion

Mitch Larkin Mitchell James Larkin (born 9 July 1993) is an Australian competitive swimmer who specialises in backstroke events. He currently represents the Cali Condors which is part of the International Swimming League. Larkin competed for Australia at the ...

missed the podium with a fourth-place time in 52.43. France's

Camille Lacourt Camille Lacourt (; born 22 April 1985) is a retired French competitive swimmer and backstroke specialist. He won the 50 metre backstroke at three consecutive world championships ( 2013 Barcelona, 2015 Kazan, and 2017 Budapest). He competed at ...

picked up the fifth spot in 52.70, with Russian swimmer and Youth Olympic champion

Evgeny Rylov Evgeny Mikhailovich Rylov ( rus, Евгений Михайлович Рылов, , ɪ̯ɪvˈɡʲenʲɪɪ̯ ˈrɨɫəf; born 23 September 1996) is a Russian competitive swimmer and Olympic champion specializing in backstroke events. He won three ...

(52.74) trailing him by a 0.04-second margin. Japan's

Ryosuke Irie is a Japanese competitive swimmer who competes in backstroke events. He is a Kindai University student in Osaka. He won a silver medal in the 200 metre backstroke and a bronze in the 100 metre backstroke at the 2012 Summer Olympics, along wit ...

(53.42), the Olympic bronze medalist from London 2012, and Romania's Robert Glință (53.50) rounded out the field. The medals for the competition were presented by

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member, and the gifts were presented by

Mustapha Larfaoui Mustapha Larfaoui (born 27 November 1932 in Algiers) is a former member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) from Algeria.

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honorary life president.

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows. The following records were established during the competition: 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.

Results

Heats

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Semifinal 2

Final

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swimming at the 2016 Summer Olympics - Men's 100 metre backstroke Men's 00100 metre backstroke

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

Men's events at the 2016 Summer Olympics