Swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre backstroke
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Men's 100 metre backstroke at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad | |||||||||||||
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Venue | Tokyo Aquatics Centre | ||||||||||||
Dates | 25 July 2021 (heats) 26 July 2021 (semifinals) 27 July 2021 (final) | ||||||||||||
Competitors | 41 from 30 nations | ||||||||||||
Winning time | 51.98 | ||||||||||||
Medalists | |||||||||||||
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The men's 100 metre backstroke event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held from 25 to 27 July 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.[1] It was the event's twenty-sixth appearance, having been held at every edition since 1904 except 1964. Moreover, these Games marked the first time when the men's sprint backstroke event was held in Tokyo, as the event was not included in the swimming program in 1964.
Traditionally, the event has been dominated by Americans, who have won 15 gold medals in 25 Olympic men's 100 metre backstroke competitions, and all gold medals in the event since 1996. This time, 2016 Olympic bronze medalist and 2019 World Championship silver medalist Evgeny Rylov edged his compatriot Kliment Kolesnikov and defending Olympic champion and world record holder Ryan Murphy, who did not medal in 2019, to win first gold for Russia in this event and also the first gold medal in swimming for Russia since Larisa Ilchenko won the open water competition in 2008. Rylov subsequently repeated the gold medal performance in his signature 200 metres backstroke race.