| | Event type

100 metres Backstroke, Women

Date	15 – 16 August 2004
Status	Olympic
Location	Olympiako Kentro Ugrou Stivou, Olympiako Athletiko Kentro Athinon Spiros Loues, Athina (Main Pool)
Participants	42 from 35 countries

After dominating the event in 2001 and 2002, when she became the first woman to break the minute for the distance, Natalie Coughlin’s career hit a bump in the road in 2003 when illness wrecked her defence of the world title.

Luckily for Coughlin she was back on form in 2004 and, if not quite back to the level she showed two years earlier, was expected to win the Olympic title in the 100 metres backstroke. The American made her usual quick start and turned for home under her own world record pace. Coughlin began to made slightly down the home stretch and came under pressure from Zimbabwe’s Kirsty Coventry out in lane one. Though Coventry closed down quickly on the tiring Coughlin she was unable to catch her but still had the consolation of winning her country’s first Olympic medal in an individual event. Laure Manaudou the 400 metre freestyle champion, placed third with 2003 World Champion Antje Buschschulte trailing in sixth.

Pos	Swimmer	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	Natalie Coughlin	USA	1:01.45 (1 h6)	1:00.17 (1 h2)	1:00.37 (1)	Gold
2	Kirsty Coventry	ZIM	1:01.60 (1 h3)	1:01.21 (2 h1)	1:00.50 (2)	Silver
3	Laure Manaudou	FRA	1:01.27 (1 h4)	1:00.88 (2 h2)	1:00.88 (3)	Bronze
4	Reiko Nakamura	JPN	1:01.39 (2 h4)	1:01.24 (3 h1)	1:01.05 (4)
5	Nina Zhivanevskaya	ESP	1:01.75 (2 h6)	1:01.19 (5 h2)	1:01.12 (5)
6	Antje Buschschulte	GER	1:01.68 (1 h5)	1:00.94 (1 h1)	1:01.39 (6)
7	Louise Ørnstedt	DEN	1:02.17 (4 h5)	1:01.12 (3 h2)	1:01.51 (7)
8	Haley Cope	USA	1:01.99 (3 h5)	1:01.13 (4 h2)	1:01.76 (8)
9	Giaan Rooney	AUS	1:01.96 (2 h5)	1:01.41 (4 h1)	–
10	Stanislava Komarova	RUS	1:01.84 (4 h4)	1:01.63 (5 h1)	–
11	Noriko Inada	JPN	1:01.67 (3 h4)	1:01.74 (6 h2)	–
12	Ilona Hlaváčková	CZE	1:01.95 (5 h4)	1:01.81 (7 h2)	–
13	Katy Sexton	GBR	1:02.01 (3 h6)	1:01.96 (6 h1)	–
14	Zhan Shu	CHN	1:02.39 (6 h4)	1:02.10 (7 h1)	–
15	Gao Chang	CHN	1:02.19 (5 h6)	1:02.17 (8 h2)	–
16	Sarah Price	GBR	1:02.17 (4 h6)	1:02.48 (8 h1)	–
=17	Sanja Jovanović	CRO	1:02.47 (2 h3)	–	–
=17	Erin Gammel	CAN	1:02.47 (7 h4)	–	–
19	Iryna Amshennikova	UKR	1:02.57 (5 h5)	–	–
20	Marieke Guehrer	AUS	1:02.76 (6 h5)	–	–
21	Nikolett Szepesi	HUN	1:02.78 (6 h6)	–	–
22	Hannah McLean	NZL	1:03.09 (7 h5)	–	–
23	Janine Pietsch	GER	1:03.13 (7 h6)	–	–
24	Sim Min-Ji	KOR	1:03.14 (8 h4)	–	–
25	Sviatlana Khokhlava	BLR	1:03.25 (3 h3)	–	–
26	Alessandra Cappa	ITA	1:03.50 (8 h6)	–	–
27	Gisela Morales	GUA	1:03.72 (4 h3)	–	–
28	Anya Gostomelsky	ISR	1:04.06 (5 h3)	–	–
29	Alexandra Putra	FRA	1:04.13 (8 h5)	–	–
30	Sherry Tsai	HKG	1:04.25 (6 h3)	–	–
31	Kiera Aitken	BER	1:04.37 (1 h2)	–	–
32	Chonlathorn Vorathamrong	THA	1:05.15 (2 h2)	–	–
33	Eirini Karastergiou	GRE	1:05.30 (7 h3)	–	–
34	Şadan Derya Erke	TUR	1:05.38 (3 h2)	–	–
35	Serrana Fernández	URU	1:05.51 (4 h2)	–	–
36	Hanna-Maria Seppälä	FIN	1:05.55 (8 h3)	–	–
37	Fu Hsiao-Han	TPE	1:06.62 (5 h2)	–	–
38	Anastasiya Prilepa	KAZ	1:07.55 (6 h2)	–	–
39	Iyingiyikabo Obia	NGR	1:09.65 (1 h1)	–	–
40	Ana Galindo	HON	1:11.80 (2 h1)	–	–
41	Olga Gnedovskaya	UZB	1:15.33 (7 h2)	–	–
42	Yelena Roykova	TKM	1:15.48 (3 h1)	–	–

Round One (15 August 2004)

Fastest 16 advanced to the semi-finals.

Heat One (10:00)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Reaction
1	4	Iyingiyikabo Obia	NGR	33.15 (1) 36.50 (1)	1:09.65	0.58
2	5	Ana Galindo	HON	34.30 (2) 37.50 (2)	1:11.80	0.71
3	3	Yelena Roykova	TKM	35.09 (3) 40.39 (3)	1:15.48	0.74

Heat Two (10:03)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Reaction
1	5	Kiera Aitken	BER	31.60 (1) 32.77 (1)	1:04.37	0.69
2	1	Chonlathorn Vorathamrong	THA	31.66 (2) 33.49 (4)	1:05.15	0.65
3	4	Şadan Derya Erke	TUR	32.01 (4) 33.37 (2)	1:05.38	0.66
4	3	Serrana Fernández	URU	32.12 (5) 33.39 (3)	1:05.51	0.56
5	2	Fu Hsiao-Han	TPE	32.66 (6) 33.96 (5)	1:06.62	0.67
6	7	Anastasiya Prilepa	KAZ	31.87 (3) 35.68 (6)	1:07.55	0.71
7	6	Olga Gnedovskaya	UZB	36.51 (7) 38.82 (7)	1:15.33	0.71

Heat Three (10:06)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Reaction
1	5	Kirsty Coventry	ZIM	30.45 (1) 31.15 (1)	1:01.60	0.71	Q
2	4	Sanja Jovanović	CRO	30.50 (2) 31.97 (2)	1:02.47	0.73
3	3	Sviatlana Khokhlava	BLR	31.09 (4) 32.16 (3)	1:03.25	0.71
4	2	Gisela Morales	GUA	31.13 (5) 32.59 (4)	1:03.72	0.75
5	6	Anya Gostomelsky	ISR	31.25 (6) 32.81 (5)	1:04.06	0.66
6	8	Sherry Tsai	HKG	31.39 (7) 32.86 (6)	1:04.25	0.59
7	1	Eirini Karastergiou	GRE	31.64 (8) 33.66 (7)	1:05.30	0.64
8	7	Hanna-Maria Seppälä	FIN	30.94 (3) 34.61 (8)	1:05.55	0.70

Heat Four (10:09)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Reaction
1	4	Laure Manaudou	FRA	29.99 (3) 31.28 (1)	1:01.27	0.73	Q
2	5	Reiko Nakamura	JPN	29.80 (1) 31.59 (4)	1:01.39	0.64	Q
3	6	Noriko Inada	JPN	30.13 (4) 31.54 (3)	1:01.67	0.63	Q
4	3	Stanislava Komarova	RUS	30.54 (6) 31.30 (2)	1:01.84	0.82	Q
5	7	Ilona Hlaváčková	CZE	29.87 (2) 32.08 (7)	1:01.95	0.66	Q
6	2	Zhan Shu	CHN	30.69 (7) 31.70 (5)	1:02.39	0.68	Q
7	1	Erin Gammel	CAN	30.46 (5) 32.01 (6)	1:02.47	0.62
8	8	Sim Min-Ji	KOR	30.76 (8) 32.38 (8)	1:03.14	0.56

Heat Five (10:12)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Reaction
1	4	Antje Buschschulte	GER	30.12 (1) 31.56 (2)	1:01.68	0.68	Q
2	7	Giaan Rooney	AUS	30.43 (5) 31.53 (1)	1:01.96	0.67	Q
3	3	Haley Cope	USA	30.25 (=2) 31.74 (4)	1:01.99	0.69	Q
4	5	Louise Ørnstedt	DEN	30.46 (6) 31.71 (3)	1:02.17	0.74	Q
5	6	Iryna Amshennikova	UKR	30.33 (4) 32.24 (6)	1:02.57	0.64
6	8	Marieke Guehrer	AUS	30.67 (7) 32.09 (5)	1:02.76	0.62
7	2	Hannah McLean	NZL	30.25 (=2) 32.84 (8)	1:03.09	0.68
8	1	Alexandra Putra	FRA	31.43 (8) 32.70 (7)	1:04.13	0.69

Heat Six (10:15)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Reaction
1	4	Natalie Coughlin	USA	30.06 (1) 31.39 (2)	1:01.45	0.69	Q
2	5	Nina Zhivanevskaya	ESP	30.35 (3) 31.40 (3)	1:01.75	0.61	Q
3	3	Katy Sexton	GBR	30.65 (8) 31.36 (1)	1:02.01	0.71	Q
4	7	Sarah Price	GBR	30.24 (2) 31.93 (5)	1:02.17	0.58	Q
5	2	Gao Chang	CHN	30.51 (5) 31.68 (4)	1:02.19	0.84	Q
6	8	Nikolett Szepesi	HUN	30.54 (6) 32.24 (6)	1:02.78	0.64
7	6	Janine Pietsch	GER	30.42 (4) 32.71 (7)	1:03.13	0.77
8	1	Alessandra Cappa	ITA	30.64 (7) 32.86 (8)	1:03.50	0.62

Swim-Off (10:18)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	–	Sanja Jovanović	CRO	– (–) –	1:02.32
2	–	Erin Gammel	CAN	– (–) –	1:03.05

Semi-Finals (15 August 2004)

Fastest eight advanced to the final.

Heat One (19:30)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Reaction
1	3	Antje Buschschulte	GER	29.61 (2) 31.33 (2)	1:00.94	0.64	Q
2	5	Kirsty Coventry	ZIM	30.07 (5) 31.14 (1)	1:01.21	0.70	Q
3	4	Reiko Nakamura	JPN	29.55 (1) 31.69 (6)	1:01.24	0.63	Q
4	2	Giaan Rooney	AUS	29.98 (4) 31.43 (3)	1:01.41	0.67
5	6	Stanislava Komarova	RUS	30.19 (6) 31.44 (4)	1:01.63	0.79
6	7	Katy Sexton	GBR	30.50 (8) 31.46 (5)	1:01.96	0.73
7	8	Zhan Shu	CHN	30.39 (7) 31.71 (7)	1:02.10	0.68
8	1	Sarah Price	GBR	29.96 (3) 32.52 (8)	1:02.48	0.69

Heat Two (19:38)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Reaction
1	5	Natalie Coughlin	USA	29.21 (1) 30.96 (1)	1:00.17	0.62	QOR
2	4	Laure Manaudou	FRA	29.65 (2) 31.23 (2)	1:00.88	0.70	Q
3	1	Louise Ørnstedt	DEN	29.83 (5) 31.29 (3)	1:01.12	0.72	Q
4	7	Haley Cope	USA	29.75 (3) 31.38 (4)	1:01.13	0.67	Q
5	6	Nina Zhivanevskaya	ESP	29.78 (4) 31.41 (5)	1:01.19	0.69	Q
6	3	Noriko Inada	JPN	29.96 (7) 31.78 (6)	1:01.74	0.66
7	2	Ilona Hlaváčková	CZE	29.84 (6) 31.97 (=7)	1:01.81	0.62
8	8	Gao Chang	CHN	30.20 (8) 31.97 (=7)	1:02.17	0.79

Final (16 August 2004 — 19:52)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Reaction
1	4	Natalie Coughlin	USA	28.89 (1) 31.48 (5)	1:00.37	0.60	OR
2	1	Kirsty Coventry	ZIM	29.68 (3) 30.82 (1)	1:00.50	0.70
3	5	Laure Manaudou	FRA	29.86 (4) 31.02 (2)	1:00.88	0.73
4	8	Reiko Nakamura	JPN	29.66 (2) 31.39 (4)	1:01.05	0.64
5	7	Nina Zhivanevskaya	ESP	30.03 (8) 31.09 (3)	1:01.12	0.66
6	3	Antje Buschschulte	GER	29.90 (6) 31.49 (6)	1:01.39	0.67
7	6	Louise Ørnstedt	DEN	29.93 (7) 31.58 (7)	1:01.51	0.70
8	2	Haley Cope	USA	29.88 (5) 31.88 (8)	1:01.76	0.67