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Swimming at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Women's 200-metre backstroke
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The women's 200-metre backstroke event at the 2024 Summer Olympics was held from 1 to 2 August 2024 at Paris La Défense Arena, which was converted to a swimming pool for the swimming events.[1]
Australia's defending Olympic champion Kaylee McKeown and the US' Regan Smith were the favourites to win the event, with other contenders including Canada's Kylie Masse and the US' Phoebe Bacon. All four of those progressed through the heats and semifinals to qualify for the final.
McKeown won the final with a new Olympic record of 2:03.73, making her the first female athlete to win both backstroke events at consecutive Olympics, and the first Australian athlete to win four individual gold medals. Smith finished second with 2:04.26 and Masse finished third with 2:05.57, 0.04 seconds ahead of Bacon in fourth.
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Background
Prior to the event, the world record was 2:03.14, set by defending champion Kaylee McKeown of Australia in 2023.[2] The Olympic record was 2:04.06, set by Missy Franklin of the United States in 2012.[3]
McKeown was the fastest qualifier, with her time of 2:03.30 achieved at the 2024 Australian Olympic Trials. Former world record holder Regan Smith of the United States was the second seed, with a time of 2:03.80.[4] SwimSwam and Swimming World both opined that McKeown and Smith were the main contenders for the gold medal.[4][5]
Other medal contenders included Kylie Masse of Canada and Phoebe Bacon of the United States, who finished with the silver medal and in fifth place, respectively, at the 2020 Olympic Games.[4] Both SwimSwam and Swimming World predicted that McKeown would win gold, Smith would take silver, and Bacon would claim bronze.[4][5]
Two days prior to the start of the event, McKeown won the 100 metre backstroke and Smith took silver.[6]
The event was held at Paris La Défense Arena, which was converted to a swimming pool for the swimming events.[7]
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Qualification
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Each National Olympic Committee (NOC) was permitted to enter a maximum of two qualified athletes in each individual event, but only if both of them had attained the Olympic Qualifying Time (OQT).[8] For this event, the OQT was 2:10.39. World Aquatics then filled the rest of the event places with athletes qualifying through universality; NOCs were given one event entry for each gender, which could be used by any athlete regardless of qualification time, providing the spaces had not already been taken by athletes from that nation who had achieved the OQT.[8][9] In total, 26 athletes qualified through achieving the OQT, while 2 athletes qualified through universality places.[9]
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Heats
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Four heats (preliminary rounds) took place on 1 August 2024, starting at 11:00.[a][10] The swimmers with the best 16 times in the heats advanced to the semifinals.[11] China's Peng Xuwei won the third heat, qualifying with the fastest time of 2:08.29. Masse won the second heat with 2:08.54 to qualify with the second fastest time, and McKeown won the fourth heat with 2:08.89 to qualify in third.[12][10]
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Semifinals
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Two semifinals took place on 1 August, starting at 21:19.[13] The swimmers with the best 8 times in the semifinals advanced to the final.[11] Bacon led the first semifinal from beginning to end, qualifying with the fastest time of 2:07.32. McKeown won the second semifinal with 2:07.57. Masse and Smith also qualified in fifth and sixth, respectively.[14][13]
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Final
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The final took place at 20:37 on 2 August.[15] Masse led the field at the 50 metre mark, but by the 100 metre turn Smith had taken the lead. At the 150 metre mark Smith was still in the lead, but over the final 50 metres McKeown took the lead to finish in first place with a new Olympic record of 2:03.73. Smith finished in second with a time of 2:04.26 to claim silver, and Masse finished third with a time of 2:05.57 to claim bronze. Bacon finished fourth, 0.04 seconds behind Masse.[16][17]
McKeown's time surpassed Missy Franklin's Olympic record of 2:04.06 from 2012.[18] Her win made her the first female to win both backstroke events at consecutive Olympics,[19][20] and the first Australian athlete to win four individual gold medals.[21]
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Notes
- All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+2)
References
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