| | Event type

100 metres Backstroke, Men

Date	25 – 27 July 2021
Status	Olympic
Location	Olympic Aquatics Centre, 2-1, 2chome, Tatsumi, Koto-ku, Tatsumi-no-Mori Seaside Park, Tokyo, Japan
Participants	41 from 30 countries

The 2016 gold medallist Ryan Murphy (USA) was back and his world record from Rio still held. He was the 2015 and 2017 World Champion but, in 2019, China’s Xu Jiayu had won gold at Worlds, while Yevgeny Rylov (ROC) took silver and Australia’s Mitch Larkin won bronze. All four made the final in Tokyo along with Rylov’s teammate Kliment Kolesnikov, who had led the preliminary round in 52.15. Murphy was fastest in the semi-finals, swimming 52.24 in the first heat as Kolesnikov was second on 52.29.

Murphy was in lane four in the final, with Kolesnikov next to him in lane five, taking the lead and reaching the turn in 24.90, narrowly leading over Rylov, with Murphy in third. Murphy had the fastest second half but it was not enough to get gold, which went to Rylov, who narrowly defeated Kolesnikov – 51.98 to 52.00. Three days later, Rylov would double up by winning the 200 backstroke, with Murphy taking silver in that event.

Pos	Competitor	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	Yevgeny Rylov	ROC	53.22 (=2 h6)	52.91 (2 h2)	51.98 (1)	Gold
2	Kliment Kolesnikov	ROC	52.15 (1 h5)	52.29 (1 h2)	52.00 (2)	Silver
3	Ryan Murphy	USA	53.22 (=2 h6)	52.24 (1 h1)	52.19 (3)	Bronze
4	Thomas Ceccon	ITA	52.49 (2 h5)	52.78 (3 h1)	52.30 (4)
5	Xu Jiayu	CHN	52.70 (1 h4)	52.94 (3 h2)	52.51 (5)
6	Hugo González	ESP	53.45 (5 h5)	53.05 (4 h2)	52.78 (6)
7	Mitch Larkin	AUS	52.97 (3 h5)	52.76 (2 h1)	52.79 (7)
8	Robert Glință	ROU	53.67 (4 h6)	53.20 (4 h1)	52.95 (8)
=9	Hunter Armstrong	USA	53.77 (5 h4)	53.21 (=5 h2)	–
=9	Ryosuke Irie	JPN	52.99 (4 h5)	53.21 (=5 h2)	–
11	Apostolos Christou	GRE	53.77 (5 h6)	53.41 (5 h1)	–
12	Isaac Cooper	AUS	53.73 (4 h4)	53.43 (7 h2)	–
13	Marek Ulrich	GER	53.74 (1 h3)	53.54 (6 h1)	–
14	Mewen Tomac	FRA	53.49 (2 h4)	53.62 (7 h1)	–
15	Guilherme Guido	BRA	53.65 (3 h4)	53.80 (8 h2)	–
16	Yohann Ndoye-Brouard	FRA	53.13 (1 h6)	– (DQ h1)	–
=17	Luke Greenbank	GBR	53.79 (6 h4)	–	–
=17	Simone Sabbioni	ITA	53.79 (6 h5)	–	–
19	Markus Thormeyer	CAN	53.80 (6 h6)	–	–
20	Guilherme Basseto	BRA	53.84 (2 h3)	–	–
21	Lee Ju-Ho	KOR	53.84 (7 h5)	–	–
22	Quah Zheng Wen	SGP	53.94 (3 h3)	–	–
23	Kacper Stokowski	POL	53.99 (1 h2)	–	–
24	Pieter Coetze	RSA	54.05 (8 h5)	–	–
25	Ole Braunschweig	GER	54.14 (4 h3)	–	–
26	Cole Pratt	CAN	54.27 (7 h6)	–	–
27	Srihari Nataraj	IND	54.31 (5 h3)	–	–
28	Francisco Santos	POR	54.35 (2 h2)	–	–
29	Ádám Telegdy	HUN	54.42 (7 h4)	–	–
30	Jan Čejka	CZE	54.69 (3 h2)	–	–
31	Yakov Toumarkin	ISR	54.81 (6 h3)	–	–
32	Dylan Carter	TTO	54.82 (4 h2)	–	–
33	Mikita Tsmyh	BLR	54.88 (7 h3)	–	–
34	Merdan Ataýew	TKM	55.24 (1 h1)	–	–
35	Bernhard Reitshammer	AUT	55.26 (8 h3)	–	–
36	Michael Laitarovsky	ISR	55.34 (5 h2)	–	–
37	Kaloyan Levterov	BUL	55.60 (6 h2)	–	–
38	Daniel Martin	ROU	56.91 (8 h4)	–	–
39	Gabriel Castillo	BOL	58.24 (2 h1)	–	–
40	Heriniavo Rasolonjatovo	MAD	59.81 (3 h1)	–	–
DQ	Richárd Bohus	HUN	– (DQ h6)	–	–

Round One

Date	25 July 2021 — 19:51

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Kliment Kolesnikov	ROC	52.15	Q
2	–	Thomas Ceccon	ITA	52.49	Q
3	–	Xu Jiayu	CHN	52.70	Q
4	–	Mitch Larkin	AUS	52.97	Q
5	–	Ryosuke Irie	JPN	52.99	Q
6	–	Yohann Ndoye-Brouard	FRA	53.13	Q
=7	–	Ryan Murphy	USA	53.22	Q
=7	–	Yevgeny Rylov	ROC	53.22	Q
9	–	Hugo González	ESP	53.45	Q
10	–	Mewen Tomac	FRA	53.49	Q
11	–	Guilherme Guido	BRA	53.65	Q
12	–	Robert Glință	ROU	53.67	Q
13	–	Isaac Cooper	AUS	53.73	Q
14	–	Marek Ulrich	GER	53.74	Q
=15	–	Hunter Armstrong	USA	53.77	Q
=15	–	Apostolos Christou	GRE	53.77	Q
=17	–	Luke Greenbank	GBR	53.79
=17	–	Simone Sabbioni	ITA	53.79
19	–	Markus Thormeyer	CAN	53.80
=20	–	Guilherme Basseto	BRA	53.84
=20	–	Lee Ju-Ho	KOR	53.84
22	–	Quah Zheng Wen	SGP	53.94
23	–	Kacper Stokowski	POL	53.99
24	–	Pieter Coetze	RSA	54.05
25	–	Ole Braunschweig	GER	54.14
26	–	Cole Pratt	CAN	54.27
27	–	Srihari Nataraj	IND	54.31
28	–	Francisco Santos	POR	54.35
29	–	Ádám Telegdy	HUN	54.42
30	–	Jan Čejka	CZE	54.69
31	–	Yakov Toumarkin	ISR	54.81
32	–	Dylan Carter	TTO	54.82
33	–	Mikita Tsmyh	BLR	54.88
34	–	Merdan Ataýew	TKM	55.24
35	–	Bernhard Reitshammer	AUT	55.26
36	–	Michael Laitarovsky	ISR	55.34
37	–	Kaloyan Levterov	BUL	55.60
38	–	Daniel Martin	ROU	56.91
39	–	Gabriel Castillo	BOL	58.24
40	–	Heriniavo Rasolonjatovo	MAD	59.81
DQ	–	Richárd Bohus	HUN	–

Heat #1

Time	19:51

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Merdan Ataýew	TKM	55.24	0.64	26.48 (1)	28.76 (1)
2	–	Gabriel Castillo	BOL	58.24	0.56	27.94 (2)	30.30 (2)
3	–	Heriniavo Rasolonjatovo	MAD	59.81	0.59	28.69 (3)	31.12 (3)

Heat #2

Time	19:54

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Kacper Stokowski	POL	53.99	0.57	26.29 (3)	27.70 (1)
2	–	Francisco Santos	POR	54.35	0.60	26.32 (5)	28.03 (2)
3	–	Jan Čejka	CZE	54.69	0.55	26.31 (4)	28.38 (3)
4	–	Dylan Carter	TTO	54.82	0.65	26.24 (2)	28.58 (4)
5	–	Michael Laitarovsky	ISR	55.34	0.51	25.95 (1)	29.39 (6)
6	–	Kaloyan Levterov	BUL	55.60	0.52	26.99 (6)	28.61 (5)

Heat #3

Time	19:57

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Marek Ulrich	GER	53.74	0.63	25.86 (3)	27.88 (2)	Q
2	–	Guilherme Basseto	BRA	53.84	0.54	25.50 (1)	28.34 (5)
3	–	Quah Zheng Wen	SGP	53.94	0.49	25.73 (2)	28.21 (4)
4	–	Ole Braunschweig	GER	54.14	0.60	26.31 (7)	27.83 (1)
5	–	Srihari Nataraj	IND	54.31	0.57	26.18 (6)	28.13 (3)
6	–	Yakov Toumarkin	ISR	54.81	0.62	26.46 (8)	28.35 (6)
7	–	Mikita Tsmyh	BLR	54.88	0.59	26.12 (5)	28.76 (7)
8	–	Bernhard Reitshammer	AUT	55.26	0.58	25.95 (4)	29.31 (8)

Heat #4

Time	20:00

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Xu Jiayu	CHN	52.70	0.54	25.24 (1)	27.46 (2)	Q
2	–	Mewen Tomac	FRA	53.49	0.60	25.72 (3)	27.77 (4)	Q
3	–	Guilherme Guido	BRA	53.65	0.58	25.62 (2)	28.03 (6)	Q
4	–	Isaac Cooper	AUS	53.73	0.62	25.91 (4)	27.82 (5)	Q
5	–	Hunter Armstrong	USA	53.77	0.72	26.33 (7)	27.44 (1)	Q
6	–	Luke Greenbank	GBR	53.79	0.58	26.09 (5)	27.70 (3)
7	–	Ádám Telegdy	HUN	54.42	0.64	26.29 (6)	28.13 (7)
8	–	Daniel Martin	ROU	56.91	0.55	26.85 (8)	30.06 (8)

Heat #5

Time	20:03

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Kliment Kolesnikov	ROC	52.15	0.65	24.89 (1)	27.26 (3)	Q
2	–	Thomas Ceccon	ITA	52.49	0.63	25.63 (2)	26.86 (1)	Q
3	–	Mitch Larkin	AUS	52.97	0.60	25.89 (5)	27.08 (2)	Q
4	–	Ryosuke Irie	JPN	52.99	0.52	25.64 (3)	27.35 (5)	Q
5	–	Hugo González	ESP	53.45	0.59	26.13 (6)	27.32 (4)	Q
6	–	Simone Sabbioni	ITA	53.79	0.61	26.43 (8)	27.36 (6)
7	–	Lee Ju-Ho	KOR	53.84	0.53	25.70 (4)	28.14 (8)
8	–	Pieter Coetze	RSA	54.05	0.61	26.19 (7)	27.86 (7)

Heat #6

Time	20:06

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Yohann Ndoye-Brouard	FRA	53.13	0.55	25.97 (2)	27.16 (3)	Q
=2	–	Ryan Murphy	USA	53.22	0.53	26.15 (5)	27.07 (1)	Q
=2	–	Yevgeny Rylov	ROC	53.22	0.54	26.12 (4)	27.10 (2)	Q
4	–	Robert Glință	ROU	53.67	0.60	26.22 (6)	27.45 (4)	Q
5	–	Apostolos Christou	GRE	53.77	0.60	25.78 (1)	27.99 (7)	Q
6	–	Markus Thormeyer	CAN	53.80	0.65	26.05 (3)	27.75 (5)
7	–	Cole Pratt	CAN	54.27	0.61	26.45 (7)	27.82 (6)
DQ	–	Richárd Bohus	HUN	–	–	– (–)	–

Semi-Finals

Date	26 July 2021 — 11:31

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Ryan Murphy	USA	52.24	Q
2	–	Kliment Kolesnikov	ROC	52.29	Q
3	–	Mitch Larkin	AUS	52.76	Q
4	–	Thomas Ceccon	ITA	52.78	Q
5	–	Yevgeny Rylov	ROC	52.91	Q
6	–	Xu Jiayu	CHN	52.94	Q
7	–	Hugo González	ESP	53.05	Q
8	–	Robert Glință	ROU	53.20	Q
=9	–	Hunter Armstrong	USA	53.21
=9	–	Ryosuke Irie	JPN	53.21
11	–	Apostolos Christou	GRE	53.41
12	–	Isaac Cooper	AUS	53.43
13	–	Marek Ulrich	GER	53.54
14	–	Mewen Tomac	FRA	53.62
15	–	Guilherme Guido	BRA	53.80
DQ	–	Yohann Ndoye-Brouard	FRA	–

Heat #1

Time	11:31

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Ryan Murphy	USA	52.24	0.51	25.39 (2)	26.85 (1)	Q
2	–	Mitch Larkin	AUS	52.76	0.57	25.84 (5)	26.92 (3)	Q
3	–	Thomas Ceccon	ITA	52.78	0.63	25.92 (7)	26.86 (2)	Q
4	–	Robert Glință	ROU	53.20	0.58	25.89 (6)	27.31 (4)	Q
5	–	Apostolos Christou	GRE	53.41	0.61	25.25 (1)	28.16 (7)
6	–	Marek Ulrich	GER	53.54	0.59	25.80 (4)	27.74 (5)
7	–	Mewen Tomac	FRA	53.62	0.62	25.75 (3)	27.87 (6)
DQ	–	Yohann Ndoye-Brouard	FRA	–	–	– (–)	–

Heat #2

Time	11:37

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Kliment Kolesnikov	ROC	52.29	0.63	25.32 (1)	26.97 (1)	Q
2	–	Yevgeny Rylov	ROC	52.91	0.55	25.75 (7)	27.16 (3)	Q
3	–	Xu Jiayu	CHN	52.94	0.50	25.71 (=5)	34.61 (8)	Q
4	–	Hugo González	ESP	53.05	0.62	25.91 (8)	27.14 (2)	Q
=5	–	Hunter Armstrong	USA	53.21	0.80	25.50 (2)	27.71 (5)
=5	–	Ryosuke Irie	JPN	53.21	0.52	25.71 (=5)	27.50 (4)
7	–	Isaac Cooper	AUS	53.43	0.59	25.61 (4)	27.82 (6)
8	–	Guilherme Guido	BRA	53.80	0.59	25.52 (3)	28.28 (7)

Final Round

Date	27 July 2021 — 10:59

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Yevgeny Rylov	ROC	51.98	0.55	24.96 (2)	27.02 (2)
2	–	Kliment Kolesnikov	ROC	52.00	0.62	24.90 (1)	27.10 (3)
3	–	Ryan Murphy	USA	52.19	0.52	25.26 (3)	34.61 (8)
4	–	Thomas Ceccon	ITA	52.30	0.61	25.54 (6)	26.76 (1)
5	–	Xu Jiayu	CHN	52.51	0.52	25.40 (5)	27.11 (4)
6	–	Hugo González	ESP	52.78	0.60	25.64 (=7)	27.14 (5)
7	–	Mitch Larkin	AUS	52.79	0.59	25.64 (=7)	27.15 (6)
8	–	Robert Glință	ROU	52.95	0.57	25.36 (4)	27.59 (7)