Billed as the Clash of the Titans, Ryan Lochte stormed home on the final lap to defeat his teammate Aaron Peirsol and claim his first individual Olympic gold medal. He touched the wall first in 1:53.94, faster than the world record he shared with Peirsol at 1:54.32.[3][4][5] It was the fourth consecutive gold medal in the men's 200 backstroke for the United States, all by different swimmers.
Peirsol enjoyed a head-to-head battle against Lochte in the first 150 metres, but ended up only with a silver in 1:54.33. This made Peirsol the first man to earn three medals in the 200 metre backstroke, adding to his silver in 2000 and gold in 2004. Russia's Arkady Vyatchanin added a second bronze to his collection (he had earlier finished third in the 100 metres backstroke), finishing in a new European record of 1:54.93 to hold off Austria's Markus Rogan (1:55.49), the silver medalist in Athens four years earlier.[4] Earlier in the semifinals, Vyatchanin edged out Germany's Helge Meeuw in a swimoff to secure a last spot for the top 8 final.[6] The medal was the first for Russia in the 200 metre backstroke, though Russian swimmers had earned medals for the Soviet Union and Unified Team in the event.
Japan's Ryosuke Irie finished fifth with a time of 1:55.72, and was followed in the sixth spot by Australia's Hayden Stoeckel, who shared bronze medals with Vyatchanin in the 100 m backstroke, in an Oceanian record of 1:56.39. Romania's Răzvan Florea (1:56.52) and Great Britain's Gregor Tait (1:57.00) rounded out the finale.[4]
This was the 13th appearance of the 200 metre backstroke event. It was first held in 1900. The event did not return until 1964; since then, it has been on the programme at every Summer Games. From 1904 to 1960, a men's 100 metre backstroke was held instead. In 1964, only the 200 metres was held. Beginning in 1968 and ever since, both the 100 and 200 metre versions have been held.[2]
Five of the 8 finalists from the 2004 Games returned: gold medalist (and 2000 silver medalist) Aaron Peirsol of the United States, silver medalist Markus Rogan of Austria, bronze medalist (and 2000 finalist) Răzvan Florea of Romania, sixth-place finisher Simon Dufour of France, and seventh-place finisher Gregor Tait of Great Britain. Peirsol had won the 2001, 2003, and 2005 World Championships and held the world record from 2002 to 2007. His countryman Ryan Lochte, however, had emerged from Peirsol's shadow as a true threat to Peirsol's dominance. After taking bronze in 2005, Lochte defeated Peirsol at the 2007 World Championships, taking the world record as well. Peirsol responded by matching Lochte's record at the U.S. Olympic trials.[2]
The Cayman Islands, Kazakhstan, South Africa, and Uzbekistan each made their debut in the event. Australia and Great Britain each made their 12th appearance, tied for most among nations to that point.
Each National Olympic Committee (NOC) could enter up to two swimmers if both met the A qualifying standard, or one swimmer if he met the B standard. For 2008, the A standard was 1:59.72 while the B standard was 2:03.90. The qualifying window was 15 March 2007 to 15 July 2008; only approved meets (generally international competitions and national Olympic trials) during that period could be used to meet the standards. There were also universality places available; if no male swimmer from a nation qualified in any event, the NOC could enter one male swimmer in an event.
The two swimmers per NOC limit had been in place since the 1984 Games.
Competition formatedit
The competition followed the format established in 2000, with three rounds: heats, semifinals, and a final. The advancement rule followed the format introduced in 1952. A swimmer's place in the heat was not used to determine advancement; instead, the fastest times from across all heats in a round were used. The top 16 swimmers from the heats advanced to the semifinals. The top 8 semifinalists advanced to the final. Swim-offs were used as necessary to break ties.
^"Olympic Swimming Schedule". USA Today. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
^ abc"200 metres Backstroke, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
^"Lochte, Peirsol take gold, silver in 200 back". NBC News. 14 August 2008. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
^ abcLohn, John (14 August 2008). . Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
^"Lochte grabs 200m backstroke gold". BBC Sport. 15 August 2008. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
^Lohn, John (13 August 2008). . Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 14 May 2013. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
^Clarey, Christopher (31 March 2007). "American sets a record, but, no, it's not Phelps". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
^Van Valkenburg, Kevin (5 July 2008). "Phelps in a world of his own". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
External linksedit
Official Olympic Report
October 26, 2023
swimming, 2008, summer, olympics, metre, backstroke, metre, backstroke, event, 2008, olympic, games, took, place, august, beijing, national, aquatics, center, beijing, china, there, were, competitors, from, nations, metre, backstrokeat, games, xxix, olympiadgo. The men s 200 metre backstroke event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 13 15 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing China 1 There were 40 competitors from 31 nations 2 Men s 200 metre backstrokeat the Games of the XXIX OlympiadGold medalist Ryan Lochte and silver medalist Aaron Peirsol 2009 VenueBeijing National Aquatics CenterDatesAugust 13 2008 heats August 14 2008 semifinals August 15 2008 final Competitors40 from 31 nationsWinning time1 53 94 WRMedalistsRyan Lochte United StatesAaron Peirsol United StatesArkady Vyatchanin Russia 20042012 Billed as the Clash of the Titans Ryan Lochte stormed home on the final lap to defeat his teammate Aaron Peirsol and claim his first individual Olympic gold medal He touched the wall first in 1 53 94 faster than the world record he shared with Peirsol at 1 54 32 3 4 5 It was the fourth consecutive gold medal in the men s 200 backstroke for the United States all by different swimmers Peirsol enjoyed a head to head battle against Lochte in the first 150 metres but ended up only with a silver in 1 54 33 This made Peirsol the first man to earn three medals in the 200 metre backstroke adding to his silver in 2000 and gold in 2004 Russia s Arkady Vyatchanin added a second bronze to his collection he had earlier finished third in the 100 metres backstroke finishing in a new European record of 1 54 93 to hold off Austria s Markus Rogan 1 55 49 the silver medalist in Athens four years earlier 4 Earlier in the semifinals Vyatchanin edged out Germany s Helge Meeuw in a swimoff to secure a last spot for the top 8 final 6 The medal was the first for Russia in the 200 metre backstroke though Russian swimmers had earned medals for the Soviet Union and Unified Team in the event Japan s Ryosuke Irie finished fifth with a time of 1 55 72 and was followed in the sixth spot by Australia s Hayden Stoeckel who shared bronze medals with Vyatchanin in the 100 m backstroke in an Oceanian record of 1 56 39 Romania s Răzvan Florea 1 56 52 and Great Britain s Gregor Tait 1 57 00 rounded out the finale 4 Contents 1 Background 2 Qualification 3 Competition format 4 Records 5 Schedule 6 Results 6 1 Heats 6 2 Semifinals 6 3 Final 7 References 8 External linksBackground editThis was the 13th appearance of the 200 metre backstroke event It was first held in 1900 The event did not return until 1964 since then it has been on the programme at every Summer Games From 1904 to 1960 a men s 100 metre backstroke was held instead In 1964 only the 200 metres was held Beginning in 1968 and ever since both the 100 and 200 metre versions have been held 2 Five of the 8 finalists from the 2004 Games returned gold medalist and 2000 silver medalist Aaron Peirsol of the United States silver medalist Markus Rogan of Austria bronze medalist and 2000 finalist Răzvan Florea of Romania sixth place finisher Simon Dufour of France and seventh place finisher Gregor Tait of Great Britain Peirsol had won the 2001 2003 and 2005 World Championships and held the world record from 2002 to 2007 His countryman Ryan Lochte however had emerged from Peirsol s shadow as a true threat to Peirsol s dominance After taking bronze in 2005 Lochte defeated Peirsol at the 2007 World Championships taking the world record as well Peirsol responded by matching Lochte s record at the U S Olympic trials 2 The Cayman Islands Kazakhstan South Africa and Uzbekistan each made their debut in the event Australia and Great Britain each made their 12th appearance tied for most among nations to that point Qualification editMain article Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics Qualification Each National Olympic Committee NOC could enter up to two swimmers if both met the A qualifying standard or one swimmer if he met the B standard For 2008 the A standard was 1 59 72 while the B standard was 2 03 90 The qualifying window was 15 March 2007 to 15 July 2008 only approved meets generally international competitions and national Olympic trials during that period could be used to meet the standards There were also universality places available if no male swimmer from a nation qualified in any event the NOC could enter one male swimmer in an event The two swimmers per NOC limit had been in place since the 1984 Games Competition format editThe competition followed the format established in 2000 with three rounds heats semifinals and a final The advancement rule followed the format introduced in 1952 A swimmer s place in the heat was not used to determine advancement instead the fastest times from across all heats in a round were used The top 16 swimmers from the heats advanced to the semifinals The top 8 semifinalists advanced to the final Swim offs were used as necessary to break ties This swimming event used backstroke Because an Olympic size swimming pool is 50 metres long this race consisted of four lengths of the pool Records editPrior to this competition the existing world and Olympic records were as follows World record nbsp Ryan Lochte USA nbsp Aaron Peirsol USA 1 54 32 Melbourne AustraliaOmaha United States 30 March 20074 July 2008 7 8 Olympic record nbsp Aaron Peirsol USA 1 54 95 Athens Greece 19 August 2004 The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition Date Event Swimmer Nation Time RecordAugust 15 Final Ryan Lochte nbsp United States 1 53 94 WRSchedule editThe competition moved to a three day schedule rather than two days as in the past All times are China Standard Time UTC 8 Date Time RoundWednesday 13 August 2008 18 54 HeatsThursday 14 August 2008 10 21 SemifinalsFriday 15 August 2008 10 19 FinalResults editHeats edit Rank Heat Lane Swimmer Nation Time Notes1 6 4 Ryan Lochte nbsp United States 1 56 29 Q2 5 4 Aaron Peirsol nbsp United States 1 56 35 Q3 4 4 Markus Rogan nbsp Austria 1 56 64 Q4 5 5 Arkady Vyatchanin nbsp Russia 1 56 97 Q5 6 5 Gregor Tait nbsp Great Britain 1 57 03 Q6 4 5 Hayden Stoeckel nbsp Australia 1 57 15 Q7 5 3 Ryosuke Irie nbsp Japan 1 57 68 Q8 6 7 Gordan Kozulj nbsp Croatia 1 57 81 Q9 6 3 Ashley Delaney nbsp Australia 1 57 87 Q10 4 3 Răzvan Florea nbsp Romania 1 57 97 Q11 5 6 Helge Meeuw nbsp Germany 1 58 42 Q12 4 2 Damiano Lestingi nbsp Italy 1 58 53 Q13 3 7 George Du Rand nbsp South Africa 1 58 62 Q AF14 6 6 Stanislav Donets nbsp Russia 1 58 68 Q15 6 8 Keith Beavers nbsp Canada 1 58 84 Q16 3 4 Tobias Oriwol nbsp Canada 1 58 94 Q17 5 2 Pierre Roger nbsp France 1 59 0118 3 1 Omar Pinzon nbsp Colombia 1 59 1119 4 1 Sebastian Stoss nbsp Austria 1 59 446 1 Roland Rudolf nbsp Hungary 1 59 4421 4 6 Takashi Nakano nbsp Japan 1 59 5922 3 6 Derya Buyukuncu nbsp Turkey 1 59 8623 5 8 Lucas Salatta nbsp Brazil 1 59 9124 5 1 Nick Driebergen nbsp Netherlands 2 00 2425 5 7 Mattia Aversa nbsp Italy 2 00 2526 3 8 Kim Ji heun nbsp South Korea 2 00 7227 2 5 Itai Chammah nbsp Israel 2 00 9328 3 2 Pedro Oliveira nbsp Portugal 2 01 0829 1 4 Brett Fraser nbsp Cayman Islands 2 01 1730 2 1 Pedro Medel nbsp Cuba 2 01 3231 4 7 Gabor Balog nbsp Hungary 2 01 4232 3 3 Jonathan Massacand nbsp Switzerland 2 01 8033 1 5 Oleg Rabota nbsp Kazakhstan 2 01 9534 4 8 Simon Dufour nbsp France 2 02 0035 3 5 Dimitrios Chasiotis nbsp Greece 2 02 3036 2 2 Kvetoslav Svoboda nbsp Czech Republic 2 03 1237 2 4 Deng Jian nbsp China 2 03 3438 1 3 Sergey Pankov nbsp Uzbekistan 2 03 5139 2 6 Oleksandr Isakov nbsp Ukraine 2 03 5940 2 3 Andres Olvik nbsp Estonia 2 03 66 2 7 Simon Sjodin nbsp Sweden DNS6 2 Aschwin Wildeboer nbsp Spain DNSSemifinals edit Rank Heat Lane Swimmer Nation Time Notes1 1 4 Aaron Peirsol nbsp United States 1 55 26 Q2 2 4 Ryan Lochte nbsp United States 1 55 40 Q3 2 5 Markus Rogan nbsp Austria 1 56 34 Q4 2 6 Ryosuke Irie nbsp Japan 1 56 35 Q5 1 2 Răzvan Florea nbsp Romania 1 56 45 Q NR6 2 3 Gregor Tait nbsp Great Britain 1 56 72 Q7 1 3 Hayden Stoeckel nbsp Australia 1 56 73 Q OC8 2 7 Helge Meeuw nbsp Germany 1 56 85 QSO1 5 Arkady Vyatchanin nbsp Russia 1 56 85 QSO10 2 2 Ashley Delaney nbsp Australia 1 57 7311 1 7 Damiano Lestingi nbsp Italy 1 58 2512 2 8 Keith Beavers nbsp Canada 1 58 5013 2 1 George Du Rand nbsp South Africa 1 58 61 AF14 1 6 Gordan Kozulj nbsp Croatia 1 59 2215 1 8 Tobias Oriwol nbsp Canada 1 59 5016 1 1 Stanislav Donets nbsp Russia 1 59 87Swim offRank Lane Swimmer Nation Time Notes1 4 Arkady Vyatchanin nbsp Russia 1 57 75 Q2 5 Helge Meeuw nbsp Germany 2 00 97Final edit Rank Lane Swimmer Nation Time Notes nbsp 5 Ryan Lochte nbsp United States 1 53 94 WR nbsp 4 Aaron Peirsol nbsp United States 1 54 33 nbsp 8 Arkady Vyatchanin nbsp Russia 1 54 93 EU4 3 Markus Rogan nbsp Austria 1 55 49 NR5 6 Ryosuke Irie nbsp Japan 1 55 726 1 Hayden Stoeckel nbsp Australia 1 56 39 OC7 2 Răzvan Florea nbsp Romania 1 56 528 7 Gregor Tait nbsp Great Britain 1 57 00References edit Olympic Swimming Schedule USA Today 9 August 2008 Retrieved 14 May 2013 a b c 200 metres Backstroke Men Olympedia Retrieved 13 July 2021 Lochte Peirsol take gold silver in 200 back NBC News 14 August 2008 Retrieved 16 May 2013 a b c Lohn John 14 August 2008 Olympics Swimming Ryan Lochte Claims Epic Battle Against Aaron Peirsol With 200 Back World Record Swimming World Magazine Archived from the original on 3 July 2013 Retrieved 16 May 2013 Lochte grabs 200m backstroke gold BBC Sport 15 August 2008 Retrieved 16 May 2013 Lohn John 13 August 2008 Olympics Swimming Americans Go 1 2 in Men s 200 Back Aaron Peirsol Top Seed Swimming World Magazine Archived from the original on 14 May 2013 Retrieved 16 May 2013 Clarey Christopher 31 March 2007 American sets a record but no it s not Phelps The New York Times Retrieved 6 August 2008 Van Valkenburg Kevin 5 July 2008 Phelps in a world of his own The Baltimore Sun Retrieved 6 August 2008 External links editOfficial Olympic Report Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics Men 27s 200 metre backstroke amp oldid 1117446011, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
