Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's 100 metre backstroke
| Women's 100 metre backstroke at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad
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| Venue | Beijing National Aquatics Center | ||||||||||||
| Date | August 10, 2008 (heats) August 11, 2008(semifinals) August 12, 2008 (final) |
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| Competitors | 49 from 38 nations | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 58.96 AM | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
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Natalie Coughlin |
 United States
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Kirsty Coventry |
 Zimbabwe
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Margaret Hoelzer |
United States
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The women's 100 metre backstroke event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 10–12 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.
U.S. swimmer Natalie Coughlin set a lifetime best and an American record of 58.96 to defend her title in the event. Zimbabwe's new world record holder Kirsty Coventry added a second silver to her hardware from the 400 m individual medley two days earlier, in a time of 59.19. Coming from fifth place in the turn, Margaret Hoelzer continued her impressive form in the shorter backstroke to pick up a bronze in 59.34, handing the entire medal haul for Team USA in the pool.
Great Britain's Gemma Spofforth narrowly missed the podium by four-hundredths of a second (0.04), posting a European record of 59.38 for a fourth-place finish. Russia's Anastasia Zuyeva finished fifth in a close race at 59.40, and was followed in the sixth spot by Japan's Reiko Nakamura in 59.72. France's Laure Manaudou (1:00.10), bronze medalist in Athens four years earlier, and Japanese Hanae Ito (1:00.18) rounded out the finale.
Earlier in the prelims, Zuyeva, Nakamura, and Coventry scratched out Coughlin's existing Olympic record, as they went under a time of 59.68 to lead all seeded heats. The following morning, in the semifinals, Coventry blitzed the field on the final lap to set a new world record of 58.77, breaking Coughlin's mark by two-tenths of a second (0.20).
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
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