Paris Olympics, Day 2 Prelims: Ryan Murphy Chasing History in 100 Backstroke; Hubert Kos Earns Top Seed

Paris Olympics, Day 2 Prelims: Ryan Murphy Chasing History in 100 Backstroke; Hubert Kos Earns Top Seed

The path toward history started smoothly for Ryan Murphy on Sunday morning, as the six-time Olympic medalist easily advanced to the semifinals of the 100-meter backstroke at the Paris Games. Murphy is trying to become the first athlete to medal in both backstroke events at three consecutive Olympics. Murphy was the gold medalist in the 100 back and 200 back in 2016, and left Tokyo with silver in the 200 back and bronze in the 100 distance.

In his opening swim at La Defense Arena, Murphy clocked a time of 53.06, which was good for fourth overall in the morning session. An expert at pacing his way through the rounds, Murphy did what was necessary to book a middle lane for the night’s semifinals. Out in 25.69, the Team USA captain came home in 27.37 to finish behind Greece’s Apostolos Christou (52.95) in the last of six heats.

World Record: Thomas Ceccon, ITA – 51.60 (2022)
Olympic Record: Ryan Murphy, USA – 51.85 (2016)
Tokyo Olympic Champion: Evgeny Rylov, ROC – 51.98

The fifth heat produced the top-two qualifiers for the semifinal round. Hungarian Hubert Kos, who won a world title in the 200 backstroke last summer, touched the wall in 52.78, followed by South Africa’s Pieter Coetze (52.90). Kos was a key component of Arizona State’s NCAA championship squad last spring.

Poland’s Ksawery Masiuk and France’s Yohann Ndoye Brouard went fifth and sixth into the evening, with respective marks of 53.08 and and 53.20. Ndoye Brouard was equaled by China’s Xu Jiayu. American Hunter Armstrong was ninth in 53.34 and world-record holder Thomas Ceccon of Italy was 12th in 53.45.

Absent from the field were Russians Evgeny Rylov and Kliment Kolesnikov, the reigning Olympic gold and silver medalists in the event. Due to the Vladimir Putin-directed invasion of the Ukraine, Russian athletes have been banned from the Paris Games by the International Olympic Committee. While the IOC offered a pathway for some Russians to compete at the Games as a neutral athlete, Rylov would not have qualified for that route as a result of his public support for the Putin regime and its actions against the Ukraine. As for Kolesnikov, he did not appeal for neutral status, which was the overwhelming choice made by Russian athletes.

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