|
| Event type

100 metres Backstroke, Women

Date22 July 1996
StatusOlympic
LocationGeorgia Tech Aquatic Center, Atlanta, Georgia
Participants36 from 30 countries

The 100 metres backstroke final was memorable for being literally a battle between master and pupil. The two main protagonists were both American with 25-year-old schoolteacher Whitney Hedgepeth facing off against 15-year-old high school student Beth Botsford for the Olympic title.

Their paths to the medal podium were made considerably easier by the failure to qualify to the final of the two women who finished 1-2 at the last World Championships. He Cihong was another of the Chinese team to fail to live up to the reputation gained in their glory year of 1994 whilst Nina Zhivanevskaya of Russia finished just 0.04 outside the top eight who qualified.

Botsford was never headed in the final and while Hedgepath did close slowly in the latter stages she was nearly three tenths of a second clear at the end of the race. This victory earned her a place on the US medley relay team where she earned a second gold medal. Botsford won a Pan American Games silver medal over this distance in 1999 and a Universiade bronze over 50 metres in 2003 but this was her first and last Olympic Games.

Hungary’s Krisztina Egerszegi chose not to swim in order to focus on other events. The time she set on the backstroke leg of the medley relay in Atlanta would have been enough to win gold in the 100 metres backstroke.

PosSwimmerNOCR1B FinalFinal
1Beth BotsfordUSA1:02.00 (2 h5)1:01.19 (1)Gold
2Whitney HedgepethUSA1:01.70 (1 h5)1:01.47 (2)Silver
3Marianne KrielRSA1:02.33 (1 h4)1:02.12 (3)Bronze
4Mai NakamuraJPN1:02.35 (2 h4)1:02.33 (4)
5Chen YanCHN1:02.62 (2 h3)1:02.50 (5)
6Antje BuschschulteGER1:02.68 (3 h3)1:02.52 (6)
7Nicole StevensonAUS1:02.50 (1 h3)1:02.70 (7)
8Miki NakaoJPN1:02.90 (3 h4)1:02.78 (8)
9Nina ZhivanevskayaRUS1:02.94 (4 h3)1:02.38 (1)
10Anke ScholzGER1:03.05 (3 h5)1:02.85 (2)
11Lydia LipscombeNZL1:03.61 (5 h4)1:03.30 (3)
12Olga KochetkovaRUS1:03.17 (4 h4)1:03.52 (4)
13Helen SlatterGBR1:03.89 (7 h5)1:03.61 (5)
14Elli OvertonAUS1:03.88 (6 h5)1:03.69 (6)
15Julie HowardCAN1:03.84 (5 h5)1:04.01 (7)
16Therèse AlshammarSWE1:03.79 (6 h4)1:04.15 (8)
17Mette JacobsenDEN1:03.14 (4 h5)1
18Lee Ji-HyeonKOR1:03.96 (1 h2)
19Hélène RicardoFRA1:04.03 (5 h3)
20Eva PiñeraESP1:04.41 (6 h3)
21Praphalsai MinpraphalTHA1:04.61 (2 h2)
22Maria Carlos SantosPOR1:04.84 (8 h5)
23Anu KoivistoFIN1:05.25 (7 h4)
24Marcela KubalčíkováCZE1:05.48 (3 h2)
25Yseult GervyBEL1:05.72 (4 h2)
26He CihongCHN1:05.87 (7 h3)
27Aikaterini KlepkouGRE1:05.94 (5 h2)
=28Akiko ThomsonPHI1:06.12 (=6 h2)
=28Carmen HereaROU1:06.12 (=6 h2)
30Valeria ÁlvarezARG1:06.38 (8 h3)
31Dagmara KomorowiczPOL1:06.70 (8 h4)
32Annamária KissHUN1:07.38 (1 h1)
33Gail RizzoMLT1:07.61 (2 h1)
34Tsai Shu-MinTPE1:11.44 (8 h2)
35Ximena EscaleraBOL1:11.70 (3 h1)
36Harijesy RazafindramahatraMAD1:13.83 (4 h1)

Round One (22 July 1996)

Fastest eight advanced to the final. Places 9-16 advanced to the B Final.

Heat One (11:00)

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTime
14Annamária KissHUN1:07.38
26Gail RizzoMLT1:07.61
33Ximena EscaleraBOL1:11.70
45Harijesy RazafindramahatraMAD1:13.83

Heat Two (11:08)

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTime
14Lee Ji-HyeonKOR1:03.96
23Praphalsai MinpraphalTHA1:04.61
37Marcela KubalčíkováCZE1:05.48
41Yseult GervyBEL1:05.72
52Aikaterini KlepkouGRE1:05.94
=65Carmen HereaROU1:06.12
=66Akiko ThomsonPHI1:06.12
88Tsai Shu-MinTPE1:11.44

Heat Three (11:16)

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTime
15Nicole StevensonAUS1:02.50Q
23Chen YanCHN1:02.62Q
32Antje BuschschulteGER1:02.68Q
44Nina ZhivanevskayaRUS1:02.94q
57Hélène RicardoFRA1:04.03
61Eva PiñeraESP1:04.41
76He CihongCHN1:05.87
88Valeria ÁlvarezARG1:06.38

Heat Four (11:24)

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTime
13Marianne KrielRSA1:02.33Q
25Mai NakamuraJPN1:02.35Q
34Miki NakaoJPN1:02.90Q
46Olga KochetkovaRUS1:03.17q
57Lydia LipscombeNZL1:03.61q
62Therèse AlshammarSWE1:03.79q
78Anu KoivistoFIN1:05.25
81Dagmara KomorowiczPOL1:06.70

Heat Five (11:32)

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTime
14Whitney HedgepethUSA1:01.70Q
25Beth BotsfordUSA1:02.00Q
37Anke ScholzGER1:03.05q
43Mette JacobsenDEN1:03.14q
56Julie HowardCAN1:03.84q
62Elli OvertonAUS1:03.88q
71Helen SlatterGBR1:03.89q
88Maria Carlos SantosPOR1:04.84

B Final (22 July 1996)

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTime
14Nina ZhivanevskayaRUS1:02.38
25Anke ScholzGER1:02.85
36Lydia LipscombeNZL1:03.30
43Olga KochetkovaRUS1:03.52
58Helen SlatterGBR1:03.61
61Elli OvertonAUS1:03.69
77Julie HowardCAN1:04.01
82Therèse AlshammarSWE1:04.15

Final (22 July 1996)

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTime
15Beth BotsfordUSA1:01.19
24Whitney HedgepethUSA1:01.47
33Marianne KrielRSA1:02.12
46Mai NakamuraJPN1:02.33
57Chen YanCHN1:02.50
61Antje BuschschulteGER1:02.52
72Nicole StevensonAUS1:02.70
88Miki NakaoJPN1:02.78