Gold and silver for ROC in men’s 100m backstroke with USA’s Murphy in bronze

The US dominance of the 100m backstroke is over, halted by the ROC duo of Evgeny Rylov, who won gold in a time of 51.98, and Kliment Kolesnikov claiming silver (52.00).

With defending Olympic champion and world record holder Ryan Murphy in the lane next to the fastest man ever in the 50m backstroke, Kolesnikov, all eyes were on them. But it was Kolesnikov's countryman, ROC’s Evgeny Rylov a few lanes away, who came through to win in a time of 51.98, the only man to break the 52-second barrier in the final.

Rylov, who arrived poolside in a quirky animal COVID-19 face mask and was fifth fastest in the heats, made a good start but was second behind Kolesnikov at the turn with Murphy out of the top three. However, he powered through to become Olympic champion.

Murphy moved into bronze medal position in a time of 52.19, with Kolesnikov just ahead on 52.00.

It was the first backstroke defeat for the US men at the Olympics since the Barcelona Games. They won 12 straight golds at the last six Olympics, including Murphy's sweep of the 100m and 200m back at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

The world champion from 2017 and 2019 and silver medallist in Rio, XU Jiayu from People’s Republic of China, finished fifth.