SafekipediaSwimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's 100 metre backstroke
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Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's 100 metre backstroke
The women's 100 metre backstroke event happened from 10 to 12 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China. In this race, swimmers go from one end of the pool to the other and turn once.
U.S. swimmer Natalie Coughlin won the gold medal. She set a new personal best and an American record with a time of 58.96 seconds. She also won this event in the previous Olympics. Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry won the silver medal with a time of 59.19. She had already won the 400 m individual medley. Margaret Hoelzer from the U.S. team won the bronze medal, finishing in 59.34 seconds.
Other strong swimmers included Great Britain's Gemma Spofforth, who came fourth with a European record time of 59.38, and Russia's Anastasia Zuyeva, who finished fifth in 59.40. Japan's Reiko Nakamura came sixth, followed by France's Laure Manaudou and Japan's Hanae Ito.
Records
Before this race, there were world and Olympic records. During the competition, new records were set.
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 10 | Heat 5 | Anastasia Zuyeva |  Russia | 59.61 | OR |
| August 10 | Heat 6 | Reiko Nakamura |  Japan | 59.36 | OR |
| August 10 | Heat 7 | Kirsty Coventry |  Zimbabwe | 59.00 | OR |
| August 11 | Semifinal 2 | Kirsty Coventry | Zimbabwe | 58.77 | WR |
Results
The women's 100 metre backstroke event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place from August 10 to August 12 in Beijing, China.
U.S. swimmer Natalie Coughlin won the gold medal. She swam her best time ever and broke an American record. Zimbabwe’s Kirsty Coventry won the silver medal, adding to her medal from another event.
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Natalie Coughlin |  United States | 59.43 |
| 2 | 4 | Reiko Nakamura | Japan | 59.64 |
| 3 | 3 | Gemma Spofforth |  Great Britain | 59.79 |
| 4 | 6 | Hanae Ito | Japan | 1:00.13 |
| 5 | 7 | Elizabeth Simmonds | Great Britain | 1:00.39 |
| 6 | 2 | Julia Wilkinson |  Canada | 1:00.60 |
| 7 | 1 | Sophie Edington |  Australia | 1:01.05 |
| 8 | 8 | Kseniya Moskvina | Russia | 1:01.06 |
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Kirsty Coventry | Zimbabwe | 58.77 |
| 2 | 5 | Anastasia Zuyeva | Russia | 59.77 |
| 3 | 6 | Margaret Hoelzer | United States | 59.84 |
| 4 | 3 | Laure Manaudou |  France | 1:00.19 |
| 5 | 2 | Emily Seebohm | Australia | 1:00.31 |
| 6 | 1 | Nina Zhivanevskaya |  Spain | 1:00.50 |
| 7 | 7 | Antje Buschschulte |  Germany | 1:01.15 |
| 8 | 8 | Elizabeth Coster |  New Zealand | 1:01.45 |
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 5 | Natalie Coughlin | United States | 58.96 |
 | 4 | Kirsty Coventry | Zimbabwe | 59.19 |
 | 7 | Margaret Hoelzer | United States | 59.34 |
| 4 | 2 | Gemma Spofforth | Great Britain | 59.38 |
| 5 | 6 | Anastasia Zuyeva | Russia | 59.40 |
| 6 | 3 | Reiko Nakamura | Japan | 59.72 |
| 7 | 8 | Laure Manaudou | France | 1:00.10 |
| 8 | 1 | Hanae Ito | Japan | 1:00.18 |
Related articles
This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's 100 metre backstroke, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.