The women's 100 metre backstroke event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 29–30 July at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom.[1]
| Women's 100 metre backstroke at the Games of the XXX Olympiad | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | London Aquatics Centre | ||||||||||||
| Date | July 29, 2012 (heats & semifinals) July 30, 2012 (final) | ||||||||||||
| Competitors | 45 from 38 nations | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 58.33 AM | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
At only 17 years of age, U.S. teenage sensation Missy Franklin, billed as "Missy the Missile" by her fans, stormed home on the final stretch to pick up her first ever Olympic gold medal in swimming. Trailing behind at the halfway turn, she pulled away from a tightly packed field with a more destructive force to hit the wall first in an American record of 58.33.[2][3] Australia's Emily Seebohm started the race with a marginal lead over the rest of the field, but faded down the stretch to settle only for the silver in 58.68.[4][5] Meanwhile, Japan's Aya Terakawa grabbed the bronze in an Asian record of 58.83, holding off the fast-charging Russian swimmer Anastasia Zuyeva to a fourth spot in 59.00.[6][7]
Great Britain's Gemma Spofforth, the reigning world record holder, finished fifth in 59.20, while China's Zhao Jing (59.23), Australia's Belinda Hocking (59.29) and Zhao's teammate Fu Yuanhui (1:00.50) rounded out the field.[7][8][9]
Earlier in the prelims, Seebohm blitzed the field from heat four to lead all swimmers with a sterling Olympic and Oceanian record in 58.23, shaving 0.54 seconds off the standard set by Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry in Beijing four years earlier.[10][11] Coventry, double Olympic silver medalist, missed a chance to reach the final roster with a fourteenth-place effort (1:00.39) from the semifinals.
Records edit
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record |  Gemma Spofforth (GBR) |
58.12 | Rome, Italy | 28 July 2009 | [12] |
| Olympic record |  Kirsty Coventry (ZIM) |
58.77 | Beijing, China | 11 August 2008 | [13] |
The following records were established during the competition:
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 29 | Heat 4 | Emily Seebohm |  Australia |
58.23 | OR |
Results edit
Heats edit
Semifinals edit
Semifinal 1 edit
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Missy Franklin |  United States |
59.12 | Q |
| 2 | 5 | Aya Terakawa |  Japan |
59.34 | Q |
| 3 | 7 | Gemma Spofforth |  Great Britain |
59.70 | Q |
| 4 | 6 | Fu Yuanhui |  China |
59.82 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | Simona Baumrtová |  Czech Republic |
1:00.02 | |
| 6 | 1 | Alexianne Castel |  France |
1:00.24 | |
| 7 | 8 | Arianna Barbieri |  Italy |
1:00.27 | |
| 8 | 3 | Georgia Davies | Great Britain |
1:00.56 |
Semifinal 2 edit
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Emily Seebohm | Australia |
58.39 | Q |
| 2 | 2 | Zhao Jing | China |
59.55 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | Anastasia Zuyeva |  Russia |
59.68 | Q |
| 4 | 5 | Belinda Hocking | Australia |
59.79 | Q |
| 5 | 6 | Julia Wilkinson |  Canada |
59.91 | |
| 6 | 7 | Rachel Bootsma | United States |
1:00.04 | |
| 7 | 8 | Kirsty Coventry | Zimbabwe |
1:00.39 | |
| 8 | 1 | Sinead Russell | Canada |
1:00.57 |
Final edit
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
5 | Missy Franklin | United States |
58.33 | AM |
 |
4 | Emily Seebohm | Australia |
58.68 | |
 |
3 | Aya Terakawa | Japan |
58.83 | AS |
| 4 | 2 | Anastasia Zuyeva | Russia |
59.00 | |
| 5 | 7 | Gemma Spofforth | Great Britain |
59.20 | |
| 6 | 6 | Zhao Jing | China |
59.23 | |
| 7 | 1 | Belinda Hocking | Australia |
59.29 | |
| 8 | 8 | Fu Yuanhui | China |
1:00.50 |
References edit
- ^ "Swimming: Results & Schedules". London 2012. NBC Olympics. 29 July 2012. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
- ^ Rossingh, Danielle (30 July 2012). "Missy Franklin Swims to Gold as Seebohm Cries Over Missed Chance". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on August 3, 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
- ^ "Olympics swimming: Missy Franklin wins 100m backstroke". BBC Sport. 30 July 2012. Archived from the original on 6 August 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
- ^ "Seebohm left shattered with silver". ABC News Australia. 30 July 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
- ^ Jeffery, Nicole (30 July 2012). "Heartbroken Emily Seebohm settles for silver in 100m backstroke". The Australian. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
- ^ Kano, Shintaro (31 July 2012). "Irie, Terakawa, Suzuki haul in bronze from the pool". The Japan Times. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
- ^ a b "2012 London Olympics: Missy Franklin Wins First Olympic Gold Medal With 100 Back Victory; Sets American Record". Swimming World Magazine. 30 July 2012. Archived from the original on 2013-09-26. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
- ^ McRae, Donald (30 July 2012). "London 2012: Missy Franklin wins Olympic 100m backstroke gold for US". Guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
- ^ "London 2012 Olympics: Gemma Spofforth misses out on 100m backstroke medal". The Daily Telegraph. 30 July 2012. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
- ^ "2012 London Olympics: Emily Seebohm Blasts Olympic Record, Posts Textile Best in Prelims of 100 Back". Swimming World Magazine. 29 July 2012. Archived from the original on 2013-01-28. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
- ^ "Seebohm breaks Olympic record". ABC News Australia. 29 July 2012. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
- ^ Bull, Andy (28 July 2009). "Gemma Spofforth swims to 100m backstroke glory in world record time". Guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
- ^ "Coventry sets world record in women's 100 backstroke". Los Angeles Times. 10 August 2008. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
- ^ "Women's 100m Backstroke – Heats". London2012.com. LOCOG. Archived from the original on 5 December 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012.