100 metres Breaststroke, Men

The favorite was Hungary’s Norbert Rózsa, who had set the world record in a prelim at the 1991 European Championships, and later won that event as well as the 1991 World Championships. But in the prelims he showed that he might be off form by qualifying only last with 1:02.25, as the leader was the surprising Russian Dmitry Volkov, with 1:01.74. American Nelson Diebel made it through with 1:01.80, but he was considered only an outside medal contender. His biggest international result as a bronze at the 1991 Pan American Games in the 200 breast, and he had a history in injuries and a wild past.

But Diebel overcame all that. In the final the leaders at the turn were the Unified Team’s Volkov and Vasily Ivanov, with Diebel third, but the Russians faded on the second lap and Diebel came on for a shocking gold medal, with Rózsa hanging on for the silver, the bronze going to Australia’s Philip Rogers. Diebel’s time was only the 13th-best performance ever and had been bettered four times by Rózsa, but Diebel had the gold.