# Swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre backstroke

The men's 100 metre backstroke event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held from 25 to 27 July 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. It was the event's twenty-sixth appearance, having been held at every edition since 1904 except 1964. Moreover, these Games marked the first time when the men's sprint backstroke event was held in Tokyo, as the event was not included in the swimming program in 1964.
Traditionally, the event has been dominated by Americans, who have won 15 gold medals in 25 Olympic men's 100 metre backstroke competitions, and all gold medals in the event since 1996. This time, 2016 Olympic bronze medalist and 2019 World Championship silver medalist Evgeny Rylov edged his compatriot Kliment Kolesnikov and defending Olympic champion and world record holder Ryan Murphy, who did not medal in 2019, to win first gold by a Russian in this event and also the first gold medal in swimming by a Russian since Larisa Ilchenko won the open water competition in 2008. Rylov subsequently repeated the gold medal performance in his signature 200 metres backstroke race.
Leading at the turn by 6 one-hundredths of a second over Rylov, Kolesnikov could not maintain his lead and settled for silver just 0.02 seconds behind in 52.00. Despite a late charge, Murphy could not overtake the Russian duo, settling for bronze in 52.19.
Italy's Thomas Ceccon clocked a national record of 52.30 to fall short of the podium, placing fourth. Meanwhile China's two-time defending World champion Xu Jiayu (52.51) fell to fifth, while Spain's Hugo González (52.78) edged Australia's Mitch Larkin (52.79) by one one-hundredth of a second to take sixth. Romania's Robert Glință (52.95) clocked a sub-53 time to round out the field.

## Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record | Ryan Murphy (USA) | 51.85 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | 13 August 2016 |
| Olympic record | Ryan Murphy (USA) | 51.85 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | 13 August 2016 |
No new records were set during the competition.

## Qualification

The Olympic Qualifying Time for the event was 53.85 seconds. Up to two swimmers per National Olympic Committee (NOC) could automatically qualify by swimming that time at an approved qualification event. The Olympic Selection Time was 55.47 seconds. Up to one swimmer per NOC meeting that time was eligible for selection, allocated by world ranking until the maximum quota for all swimming events is reached. NOCs without a male swimmer qualified in any event could also use their universality place.

## Competition format

The competition consisted of three rounds: heats, semifinals, and a final. The swimmers with the best 16 times in the heats advanced to the semifinals. The swimmers with the best 8 times in the semifinals advanced to the final.

## Schedule

All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
| Date | Time | Round |
| 25 July 2021 | 19:51 | Heats |
| 26 July 2021 | 11:31 | Semifinals |
| 27 July 2021 | 10:59 | Final |

## Results
### Heats

The swimmers with the top 16 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the semifinals.
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 5 | 4 | Kliment Kolesnikov | ROC | 52.15 | Q |
| 2 | 5 | 3 | Thomas Ceccon | Italy | 52.49 | Q, NR |
| 3 | 4 | 4 | Xu Jiayu | China | 52.70 | Q |
| 4 | 5 | 5 | Mitch Larkin | Australia | 52.97 | Q |
| 5 | 5 | 2 | Ryosuke Irie | Japan | 52.99 | Q |
| 6 | 6 | 2 | Yohann Ndoye-Brouard | France | 53.13 | Q |
| 7 | 6 | 4 | Evgeny Rylov | ROC | 53.22 | Q |
| 7 | 6 | 5 | Ryan Murphy | United States | 53.22 | Q |
| 9 | 5 | 6 | Hugo González | Spain | 53.45 | Q |
| 10 | 4 | 3 | Mewen Tomac | France | 53.49 | Q |
| 11 | 4 | 6 | Guilherme Guido | Brazil | 53.65 | Q |
| 12 | 6 | 6 | Robert Glință | Romania | 53.67 | Q |
| 13 | 4 | 7 | Isaac Cooper | Australia | 53.73 | Q |
| 14 | 3 | 5 | Marek Ulrich | Germany | 53.74 | Q |
| 15 | 4 | 5 | Hunter Armstrong | United States | 53.77 | Q |
| 15 | 6 | 3 | Apostolos Christou | Greece | 53.77 | Q |
| 17 | 4 | 2 | Luke Greenbank | Great Britain | 53.79 | |
| 17 | 5 | 7 | Simone Sabbioni | Italy | 53.79 | |
| 19 | 6 | 7 | Markus Thormeyer | Canada | 53.80 | |
| 20 | 3 | 8 | Guilherme Basseto | Brazil | 53.84 | |
| 20 | 5 | 8 | Lee Ju-ho | South Korea | 53.84 | |
| 22 | 3 | 2 | Quah Zheng Wen | Singapore | 53.94 | |
| 23 | 2 | 6 | Kacper Stokowski | Poland | 53.99 | |
| 24 | 5 | 1 | Pieter Coetze | South Africa | 54.05 | |
| 25 | 3 | 4 | Ole Braunschweig | Germany | 54.14 | |
| 26 | 6 | 1 | Cole Pratt | Canada | 54.27 | |
| 27 | 3 | 6 | Srihari Nataraj | India | 54.31 | |
| 28 | 2 | 2 | Francisco Santos | Portugal | 54.35 | NR |
| 29 | 4 | 8 | Ádám Telegdy | Hungary | 54.42 | |
| 30 | 2 | 5 | Jan Čejka | Czech Republic | 54.69 | |
| 31 | 3 | 7 | Yakov Toumarkin | Israel | 54.81 | |
| 32 | 2 | 3 | Dylan Carter | Trinidad and Tobago | 54.82 | |
| 33 | 3 | 1 | Mikita Tsmyh | Belarus | 54.88 | |
| 34 | 1 | 4 | Merdan Atayev | Turkmenistan | 55.24 | |
| 35 | 3 | 3 | Bernhard Reitshammer | Austria | 55.26 | |
| 36 | 2 | 4 | Michael Laitarovsky | Israel | 55.34 | |
| 37 | 2 | 7 | Kaloyan Levterov | Bulgaria | 55.60 | |
| 38 | 4 | 1 | Daniel Martin | Romania | 56.91 | |
| 39 | 1 | 5 | Gabriel Castillo | Bolivia | 58.24 | |
| 40 | 1 | 3 | Heriniavo Rasolonjatovo | Madagascar | 59.81 | |
| — | 6 | 8 | Richárd Bohus | Hungary | DSQ | |

### Semifinals

The swimmers with the best 8 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the final.
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | 6 | Ryan Murphy | United States | 52.24 | Q |
| 2 | 2 | 4 | Kliment Kolesnikov | ROC | 52.29 | Q |
| 3 | 1 | 5 | Mitch Larkin | Australia | 52.76 | Q |
| 4 | 1 | 4 | Thomas Ceccon | Italy | 52.78 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | 6 | Evgeny Rylov | ROC | 52.91 | Q |
| 6 | 2 | 5 | Xu Jiayu | China | 52.94 | Q |
| 7 | 2 | 2 | Hugo González | Spain | 53.05 | Q |
| 8 | 1 | 7 | Robert Glință | Romania | 53.20 | Q |
| 9 | 2 | 3 | Ryosuke Irie | Japan | 53.21 | |
| 9 | 2 | 8 | Hunter Armstrong | United States | 53.21 | |
| 11 | 1 | 8 | Apostolos Christou | Greece | 53.41 | |
| 12 | 2 | 1 | Isaac Cooper | Australia | 53.43 | |
| 13 | 1 | 1 | Marek Ulrich | Germany | 53.54 | |
| 14 | 1 | 2 | Mewen Tomac | France | 53.62 | |
| 15 | 2 | 7 | Guilherme Guido | Brazil | 53.80 | |
| — | 1 | 3 | Yohann Ndoye-Brouard | France | DSQ | |

### Final

| Rank | Lane | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| | 2 | Evgeny Rylov | ROC | 51.98 | ER |
| | 5 | Kliment Kolesnikov | ROC | 52.00 | |
| | 4 | Ryan Murphy | United States | 52.19 | |
| 4 | 6 | Thomas Ceccon | Italy | 52.30 | NR |
| 5 | 7 | Xu Jiayu | China | 52.51 | |
| 6 | 1 | Hugo González | Spain | 52.78 | |
| 7 | 3 | Mitch Larkin | Australia | 52.79 | |
| 8 | 8 | Robert Glință | Romania | 52.95 | |