The women's 100 metre backstroke event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 10–12 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.[1]
| Women's 100 metre backstroke at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Beijing National Aquatics Center | ||||||||||||
| Date | August 10, 2008 (heats) August 11, 2008(semifinals) August 12, 2008 (final) | ||||||||||||
| Competitors | 49 from 38 nations | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 58.96 AM | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
U.S. swimmer Natalie Coughlin set a lifetime best and an American record of 58.96 to defend her title in the event. Zimbabwe's new world record holder Kirsty Coventry added a second silver to her hardware from the 400 m individual medley two days earlier, in a time of 59.19. Coming from fifth place in the turn, Margaret Hoelzer continued her impressive form in the shorter backstroke to pick up a bronze in 59.34, handing the entire medal haul for Team USA in the pool.[2][3]
Great Britain's Gemma Spofforth narrowly missed the podium by a twenty-fifth of a second (0.04), posting a European record of 59.38 for a fourth-place finish. Russia's Anastasia Zuyeva finished fifth in a close race at 59.40, and was followed in the sixth spot by Japan's Reiko Nakamura in 59.72. France's Laure Manaudou (1:00.10), bronze medalist in Athens four years earlier, and Japanese Hanae Ito (1:00.18) rounded out the finale.[2]
Earlier in the prelims, Zuyeva, Nakamura, and Coventry scratched out Coughlin's existing Olympic record, as they went under a time of 59.68 to lead all seeded heats.[4] The following morning, in the semifinals, Coventry blitzed the field on the final lap to set a new world record of 58.77, breaking Coughlin's mark by two-tenths of a second (0.20).[5][6]
Records edit
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record |  Natalie Coughlin (USA) |
58.97 | Omaha, United States | 1 July 2008 | [7] |
| Olympic record |  Natalie Coughlin (USA) |
59.68 | Athens, Greece | 21 August 2004 |
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 10 | Heat 5 | Anastasia Zuyeva |  Russia |
59.61 | OR |
| August 10 | Heat 6 | Reiko Nakamura |  Japan |
59.36 | OR |
| August 10 | Heat 7 | Kirsty Coventry |  Zimbabwe |
59.00 | OR |
| August 11 | Semifinal 2 | Kirsty Coventry | Zimbabwe |
58.77 | WR |
Results edit
Heats edit
Semifinals edit
Semifinal 1 edit
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Natalie Coughlin | United States |
59.43 | Q |
| 2 | 4 | Reiko Nakamura | Japan |
59.64 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | Gemma Spofforth |  Great Britain |
59.79 | Q |
| 4 | 6 | Hanae Ito | Japan |
1:00.13 | Q |
| 5 | 7 | Elizabeth Simmonds | Great Britain |
1:00.39 | |
| 6 | 2 | Julia Wilkinson |  Canada |
1:00.60 | |
| 7 | 1 | Sophie Edington |  Australia |
1:01.05 | |
| 8 | 8 | Kseniya Moskvina | Russia |
1:01.06 |
Semifinal 2 edit
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Kirsty Coventry | Zimbabwe |
58.77 | Q, WR |
| 2 | 5 | Anastasia Zuyeva | Russia |
59.77 | Q |
| 3 | 6 | Margaret Hoelzer | United States |
59.84 | Q |
| 4 | 3 | Laure Manaudou |  France |
1:00.19 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | Emily Seebohm | Australia |
1:00.31 | |
| 6 | 1 | Nina Zhivanevskaya |  Spain |
1:00.50 | |
| 7 | 7 | Antje Buschschulte |  Germany |
1:01.15 | |
| 8 | 8 | Elizabeth Coster |  New Zealand |
1:01.45 |
Final edit
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
5 | Natalie Coughlin | United States
|
58.96 | AM |
|
4 | Kirsty Coventry | Zimbabwe
|
59.19 | |
|
7 | Margaret Hoelzer | United States
|
59.34 | |
| 4 | 2 | Gemma Spofforth | Great Britain
|
59.38 | EU |
| 5 | 6 | Anastasia Zuyeva | Russia
|
59.40 | |
| 6 | 3 | Reiko Nakamura | Japan
|
59.72 | |
| 7 | 8 | Laure Manaudou | France
|
1:00.10 | |
| 8 | 1 | Hanae Ito | Japan
|
1:00.18 |
References edit
- ^ "Olympic Swimming Schedule". USA Today. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
- ^ a b Lohn, John (11 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Natalie Coughlin Breaks 59, Wins 100 Back Gold in American Record". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
- ^ "Natalie Coughlin wins gold, Margaret Hoelzer wins bronze in 100m backstroke". Los Angeles Times. 11 August 2008. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
- ^ Lohn, John (10 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Olympic Record Times Three, Kirsty Coventry Leads Women's 100 Back Prelims". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 14 May 2013. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
- ^ Lohn, John (10 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe Grabs 100 Back World Record in Semis". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 2 June 2013. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
- ^ "Coventry sets world record in women's 100 backstroke". Los Angeles Times. 10 August 2008. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
- ^ Borzi, Pat (1 July 2008). "Natalie Coughlin again lowers backstroke record". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 May 2013.