Swimming at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre backstroke
| Men's 200 metre backstroke at the Games of the XXXI Olympiad | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Olympic Aquatics Stadium | ||||||||||||
| Dates | 10 August 2016 (heats & semifinals) 11 August 2016 (final) | ||||||||||||
| Competitors | 26 from 19 nations | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 1:53.62 | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Swimming at the 2016 Summer Olympics | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Qualification | ||
| Freestyle | ||
| 50 m | men | women |
| 100 m | men | women |
| 200 m | men | women |
| 400 m | men | women |
| 800 m | women | |
| 1500 m | men | |
| Backstroke | ||
| 100 m | men | women |
| 200 m | men | women |
| Breaststroke | ||
| 100 m | men | women |
| 200 m | men | women |
| Butterfly | ||
| 100 m | men | women |
| 200 m | men | women |
| Individual medley | ||
| 200 m | men | women |
| 400 m | men | women |
| Freestyle relay | ||
| 4 × 100 m | men | women |
| 4 × 200 m | men | women |
| Medley relay | ||
| 4 × 100 m | men | women |
| Marathon | ||
| 10 km | men | women |
The men's 200 metre backstroke event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place on 10–11 August at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium.[1]
Summary
The American tradition of excellence continued in the distance backstroke, as Ryan Murphy made a historic milestone to claim the country's sixth straight title, and strike a backstroke double for the first time, since Aaron Peirsol did so in 2004. He held off a stiff competition from Australia's reigning world champion Mitch Larkin down the home stretch to earn his second individual gold at the Games with a time of 1:53.62.[citation needed][2] Leading the race early on the initial length, Larkin pulled closer to Murphy about the midway through the final lap, but could not catch him near the wall to finish with a silver-medal time in 1:53.96.[3] Meanwhile, Russia's Evgeny Rylov finished with the bronze in 1:53.97, a hundredth of a second behind Larkin.[4]
Trailing the top three by over a second, China's Xu Jiayu, runner-up to Murphy in the 100 m backstroke on night three, took the fourth spot in 1:55.16, while his teenage teammate Li Guangyuan posted a sixth-place time in 1:55.89. U.S. swimmer Jacob Pebley, who had upset the defending champion Tyler Clary at the Olympic trials one month earlier, split the Chinese duo to finish fifth with a 1:55.52.[5] Germany's Christian Diener (1:56.27), along with double London 2012 medalist Ryosuke Irie of Japan (1:56.36), rounded out the field.[4]
The medals for the competition were presented by Yumilka Ruiz, Cuba, IOC member, and the gifts were presented by Dmitris Diathestopoulos, Member of the FINA Bureau.
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record |  Aaron Peirsol (USA) |
1:51.92 | Rome, Italy | 31 July 2009 | [6][7] |
| Olympic record |  Tyler Clary (USA) |
1:53.41 | London, United Kingdom | 2 August 2012 | [8] |
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.[1]
Results
Heats
Semifinals
Semifinal 1
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Ryan Murphy | United States |
1:55.15 | Q |
| 2 | 4 | Xu Jiayu |  China |
1:55.66 | Q |
| 3 | 6 | Ryosuke Irie |  Japan |
1:56.31 | Q |
| 4 | 3 | Jan-Philip Glania |  Germany |
1:56.53 | |
| 5 | 2 | Josh Beaver |  Australia |
1:56.57 | |
| 6 | 7 | Leonardo de Deus |  Brazil |
1:57.67 | |
| 7 | 8 | Yakov Toumarkin |  Israel |
1:58.63 | |
| 8 | 1 | Hugo González |  Spain |
1:59.08 |
Semifinal 2
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Evgeny Rylov |  Russia |
1:54.45 | Q |
| 2 | 5 | Mitch Larkin | Australia |
1:54.73 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | Jacob Pebley | United States |
1:54.92 | Q |
| 4 | 7 | Li Guangyuan | China |
1:55.92 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | Christian Diener | Germany |
1:56.37 | Q |
| 6 | 1 | Masaki Kaneko | Japan |
1:56.78 | |
| 7 | 6 | Andrey Shabasov | Russia |
1:56.84 | |
| 8 | 8 | Corey Main |  New Zealand |
1:58.08 |
Final
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
6 | Ryan Murphy | United States |
1:53.62 | |
 |
5 | Mitch Larkin | Australia |
1:53.96 | |
 |
4 | Evgeny Rylov | Russia |
1:53.97 | EU |
| 4 | 2 | Xu Jiayu | China |
1:55.16 | |
| 5 | 3 | Jacob Pebley | United States |
1:55.52 | |
| 6 | 7 | Li Guangyuan | China |
1:55.89 | |
| 7 | 8 | Christian Diener | Germany |
1:56.27 | |
| 8 | 1 | Ryosuke Irie | Japan |
1:56.36 |
References
- ^ a b "Men's 200m Backstroke". Rio 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
- ^ Stubbs, Roman (12 August 2016). "Ryan Murphy sweeps the backstroke in Rio with gold medal in 200-meter event". The Washington Post. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
- ^ Pentony, Luke (11 August 2016). "Rio 2016: Mitch Larkin claims Olympic silver medal in 200 metres backstroke". ABC News Australia. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
- ^ a b "Ryan Murphy Continues American Dominance With Gold Medal Performance In 200 Back". Swimming World Magazine. 11 August 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
- ^ "Ryan Murphy takes 200m backstroke gold, sweeps backstrokes in Rio". NBC Olympics. 12 August 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
- ^ "Cavic supplants Phelps' 100 fly time". ESPN. 31 July 2009. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
- ^ Michaelis, Vicky (31 July 2009). "Phelps earns relay gold medal, Peirsol sets 200m backstroke mark". USA Today. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ^ Auerbach, Nicole (2 August 2012). "Clary tops Lochte, wins gold in 200-meter backstroke". USA Today. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
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