The women's 100 metre backstroke event at the
2012 Summer Olympics took place on 29–30 July at the
London Aquatics Centre
The London Aquatics Centre is an indoor facility with two swimming pools and a diving pool in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, London. The centre, designed by architect Zaha Hadid as one of the main venues of the 2012 Summer Olympic ...
in
London, United Kingdom.
At only 17 years of age, U.S. teenage sensation
Missy Franklin
Melissa Franklin Johnson (born May 10, 1995) is an American former competition swimmer and five-time Olympic gold medalist. She formerly held the world record in the 200-meter backstroke (long course). As a member of the U.S. national swim team ...
, billed as "Missy the Missile" by her fans, stormed home on the final stretch to pick up her first ever Olympic gold medal in swimming. Trailing behind at the halfway turn, she pulled away from a tightly packed field with a more destructive force to hit the wall first in an American record of 58.33. Australia's
Emily Seebohm
Emily Jane Seebohm, OAM (born 5 June 1992) is an Australian swimmer and television personality. She has appeared at four Olympic Games between 2008 and 2021; and won three Olympic gold medals, five world championship gold medals and seven Comm ...
started the race with a marginal lead over the rest of the field, but faded down the stretch to settle only for the silver in 58.68. Meanwhile, Japan's
Aya Terakawa grabbed the bronze in an Asian record of 58.83, holding off the fast-charging Russian swimmer
Anastasia Zuyeva to a fourth spot in 59.00.
Great Britain's
Gemma Spofforth
Gemma Mary Spofforth (born 17 November 1987) is an English former competition swimmer who represented Great Britain in the Olympics, FINA world championships and European championships, and England in the Commonwealth Games. Spofforth is the f ...
, the reigning world record holder, finished fifth in 59.20, while China's
Zhao Jing (59.23), Australia's
Belinda Hocking (59.29) and Zhao's teammate
Fu Yuanhui
Fu Yuanhui (; born January 7, 1996) is a Chinese competitive swimmer who specializes in backstroke. She won a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics in the 100-meter backstroke.
Early life
On January 7, 1996, Fu was born in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, C ...
(1:00.50) rounded out the field.
[
Earlier in the prelims, Seebohm blitzed the field from heat four to lead all swimmers with a sterling Olympic and Oceanian record in 58.23, shaving 0.54 seconds off the standard set by Zimbabwe's ]Kirsty Coventry
Kirsty Leigh Coventry Seward (born 16 September 1983) is a Zimbabwean swimmer and politician currently serving as the Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation in the Cabinet of Zimbabwe since September 2018. A former Olympic swimmer and wo ...
in Beijing four years earlier. Coventry, double Olympic silver medalist, missed a chance to reach the final roster with a fourteenth-place effort (1:00.39) from the semifinals.
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
The following records were established during the competition:
Results
Heats
Semifinals
Semifinal 1
Semifinal 2
Final
References
External links
NBC Olympics Coverage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics - Women's 100 metre backstroke
Women's 00100 metre backstroke
2012 in women's swimming
Women's events at the 2012 Summer Olympics