The women's 100 metre backstroke event at the 2004 Olympic Games was contested at the Olympic Aquatic Centre of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex in Athens, Greece on August 15 and 16.[1]
| Women's 100 metre backstroke at the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre | ||||||||||||
| Date | August 15, 2004 (heats & semifinals) August 16, 2004 (final) | ||||||||||||
| Competitors | 41 from 34 nations | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 1:00.37 | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
U.S. swimmer Natalie Coughlin won the gold medal in this event, outside the record time of 1:00.37. The silver medal was awarded to Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry, who finished behind Coughlin by 0.13 of a second, breaking an African record of 1:00.50. France's Laure Manaudou, who won the gold in the 400 m freestyle on the previous day, took home the bronze medal, with a time of 1:00.88.[2] In the semifinals, Coughlin lowered an Olympic record time of 1:00.21, set by Romania's Diana Mocanu in Sydney (2000), to 1:00.17.[3]
Records
editPrior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record |  Natalie Coughlin (USA) | 59.58 | Fort Lauderdale, United States | 13 August 2002 |
| Olympic record |  Diana Mocanu (ROM) | 1:00.21 | Sydney, Australia | 18 September 2000 |
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 15 | Semifinal 2 | Natalie Coughlin |  United States | 1:00.17 | OR |
Results
editHeats
edit
Semifinals
editSemifinal 1
edit| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Antje Buschschulte |  Germany | 1:00.94 | Q |
| 2 | 5 | Kirsty Coventry |  Zimbabwe | 1:01.21 | Q, AF |
| 3 | 4 | Reiko Nakamura |  Japan | 1:01.24 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | Giaan Rooney |  Australia | 1:01.41 | OC |
| 5 | 6 | Stanislava Komarova |  Russia | 1:01.63 | |
| 6 | 7 | Katy Sexton |  Great Britain | 1:01.96 | |
| 7 | 8 | Zhan Shu |  China | 1:02.10 | |
| 8 | 1 | Sarah Price | Great Britain | 1:02.48 |
Semifinal 2
edit| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Natalie Coughlin | United States | 1:00.17 | Q, OR |
| 2 | 4 | Laure Manaudou |  France | 1:00.88 | Q |
| 3 | 1 | Louise Ørnstedt |  Denmark | 1:01.12 | Q |
| 4 | 7 | Haley Cope | United States | 1:01.13 | Q |
| 5 | 6 | Nina Zhivanevskaya |  Spain | 1:01.19 | Q |
| 6 | 3 | Noriko Inada | Japan | 1:01.74 | |
| 7 | 2 | Ilona Hlaváčková |  Czech Republic | 1:01.81 | |
| 8 | 8 | Gao Chang | China | 1:02.17 |
Final
edit| Rank | Lane | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 4 | Natalie Coughlin | United States | 1:00.37 | |
 | 1 | Kirsty Coventry | Zimbabwe | 1:00.50 | AF |
 | 5 | Laure Manaudou | France | 1:00.88 | |
| 4 | 8 | Reiko Nakamura | Japan | 1:01.05 | |
| 5 | 7 | Nina Zhivanevskaya | Spain | 1:01.12 | |
| 6 | 3 | Antje Buschschulte | Germany | 1:01.39 | |
| 7 | 6 | Louise Ørnstedt | Denmark | 1:01.51 | |
| 8 | 2 | Haley Cope | United States | 1:01.76 |
References
edit- ^ "Swimming schedule". BBC Sport. 5 August 2004. Retrieved 17 June 2007.
- ^ "Coughlin takes gold in 100-meter backstroke". USA Today. 16 August 2004. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
- ^ "Natalie Coughlin Finally Gets her Reward for Patience – Olympic Gold". Swimming World Magazine. 16 August 2004. Archived from the original on 11 April 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2013.