| | Event type
100 metres Backstroke, Men
| Date | 17 – 18 September 2000 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Sydney International Aquatic Centre, Olympic Park, Sydney, New South Wales |
| Participants | 55 from 48 countries |
Lenny Krayzelburg, a Ukrainian-born American whose swimming career began in the Soviet system, was an overwhelming favourite for the 100 metres backstroke title after winning both breaststroke gold medals at the 1998 World Championships. For good measure he also broke both world records the following year. Inspired by the home crowd Australia’s Matt Welsh pressured the American for most of the race but in the final 20 metres Krayzelburg pulled away for the victory. Krayzelburg was voted American Swimmer of the Year every year between 1997 and 2000.
| Pos | Swimmer | NOC | R1 | SF | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lenny Krayzelburg |  USA | 54.38 (1 h7) | 54.32 (1 h2) | 53.72 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | Matt Welsh |  AUS | 54.70 (1 h6) | 54.52 (1 h1) | 54.07 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | Stev Theloke |  GER | 55.00 (1 h5) | 54.95 (2 h2) | 54.82 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | Josh Watson | AUS | 55.09 (2 h7) | 54.93 (2 h1) | 55.01 (4) | |||
| 5 | Bartosz Kizierowski |  POL | 55.14 (2 h5) | 55.34 (4 h2) | 55.04 (5) | |||
| 6 | Neil Walker | USA | 55.34 (3 h5) | 55.20 (3 h1) | 55.14 (6) | |||
| 7 | Steffen Driesen | GER | 55.39 (2 h6) | 55.41 (5 h2) | 55.27 (7) | |||
| 8 | Eithan Urbach |  ISR | 55.44 (5 h5) | 55.31 (3 h2) | 55.74 (8) | |||
| 9 | Rodolfo Falcón |  CUB | 55.61 (3 h6) | 55.59 (6 h2) | – | |||
| 10 | Péter Horváth |  HUN | 55.81 (4 h7) | 55.65 (7 h2) | – | |||
| 11 | Chris Renaud |  CAN | 55.85 (5 h7) | 55.70 (4 h1) | – | |||
| 12 | Simon Dufour |  FRA | 56.01 (1 h4) | 55.79 (8 h2) | – | |||
| 13 | Alexandre Massura |  BRA | 55.58 (3 h7) | 56.07 (5 h1) | – | |||
| 14 | Gordan Kožulj |  CRO | 55.43 (4 h5) | 56.26 (6 h1) | – | |||
| 15 | David Ortega |  ESP | 55.80 (4 h6) | 56.33 (7 h1) | – | |||
| 16 | Adam Ruckwood |  GBR | 56.19 (6 h7) | 56.34 (8 h1) | – | |||
| 17 | Derya Büyükuncu |  TUR | 56.21 (5 h6) | – | – | |||
| =18 | Marko Strahija | CRO | 56.26 (6 h6) | – | – | |||
| =18 | Sergey Ostapchuk |  RUS | 56.26 (2 h4) | – | – | |||
| 20 | Mariusz Siembida | POL | 56.27 (6 h5) | – | – | |||
| 21 | Emanuele Merisi |  ITA | 56.35 (7 h5) | – | – | |||
| 22 | Răzvan Florea |  ROU | 56.35 (3 h4) | – | – | |||
| 23 | Rogério Romero | BRA | 56.44 (8 h5) | – | – | |||
| 24 | Darius Grigalionis |  LTU | 56.47 (7 h6) | – | – | |||
| 25 | Mark Versfeld | CAN | 56.50 (7 h7) | – | – | |||
| 26 | Volodymyr Nikolaichuk |  UKR | 56.71 (8 h7) | – | – | |||
| 27 | Alex Lim |  MAS | 56.81 (4 h4) | – | – | |||
| =28 | Nuno Laurentino |  POR | 56.95 (=5 h4) | – | – | |||
| =28 | Miroslav Machovič |  SVK | 56.95 (=5 h4) | – | – | |||
| 30 | Simon Thirsk |  RSA | 57.06 (8 h6) | – | – | |||
| 31 | Seong Min |  KOR | 57.15 (1 h2) | – | – | |||
| 32 | Blaž Medvešek |  SLO | 57.26 (1 h3) | – | – | |||
| 33 | Markus Rogan |  AUT | 57.35 (2 h3) | – | – | |||
| 34 | Ouyang Kunpeng |  CHN | 57.47 (7 h4) | – | – | |||
| 35 | Philipp Gilgen |  SUI | 57.50 (3 h3) | – | – | |||
| 36 | Mattias Ohlin |  SWE | 57.51 (4 h3) | – | – | |||
| 37 | Scott Talbot |  NZL | 57.86 (5 h3) | – | – | |||
| 38 | Alexandru Ivlev |  MDA | 57.91 (1 h1) | – | – | |||
| 39 | Ivan Angelov |  BUL | 58.03 (6 h3) | – | – | |||
| 40 | Eduardo Otero |  ARG | 58.09 (8 h4) | – | – | |||
| 41 | Diego Gallo |  URU | 58.18 (2 h2) | – | – | |||
| 42 | Milorad Čavić |  SCG | 58.25 (7 h3) | – | – | |||
| 43 | Dulyarit Phuangthong |  THA | 58.48 (3 h2) | – | – | |||
| 44 | Haitham Hassan |  EGY | 58.67 (8 h3) | – | – | |||
| 45 | Gary Tan |  SGP | 58.69 (4 h2) | – | – | |||
| 46 | Mehdi Addadi |  ALG | 58.74 (5 h2) | – | – | |||
| 47 | Benjamin Lo-Pinto |  SEY | 58.90 (2 h1) | – | – | |||
| 48 | Mike Fung-a-Wing |  SUR | 59.06 (6 h2) | – | – | |||
| 49 | Konstantin Pryakhin |  KGZ | 59.86 (7 h2) | – | – | |||
| 50 | Germán Martínez |  COL | 59.94 (3 h1) | – | – | |||
| 51 | Nicky Neckles |  BAR | 1:00.19 (8 h2) | – | – | |||
| 52 | Pavel Sidorov |  KAZ | 1:01.02 (4 h1) | – | – | |||
| 53 | Mauricio Prudencio |  BOL | 1:01.15 (5 h1) | – | – | |||
| 54 | Faisal Al-Mahmeed |  KUW | 1:05.17 (6 h1) | – | – | |||
| 55 | Welbert Samuel |  FSM | 1:12.38 (7 h1) | – | – |
Round One (17 September 2000)
Fastest 16 advanced to the semi-finals.
Heat One (11:28)
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Alexandru Ivlev | MDA | 57.91 | |||
| 2 | 3 | Benjamin Lo-Pinto | SEY | 58.90 | |||
| 3 | 4 | Germán Martínez | COL | 59.94 | |||
| 4 | 6 | Pavel Sidorov | KAZ | 1:01.02 | |||
| 5 | 7 | Mauricio Prudencio | BOL | 1:01.15 | |||
| 6 | 8 | Faisal Al-Mahmeed | KUW | 1:05.17 | |||
| 7 | 1 | Welbert Samuel | FSM | 1:12.38 |
Heat Two (11:31)
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Seong Min | KOR | 57.15 | |||
| 2 | 1 | Diego Gallo | URU | 58.18 | |||
| 3 | 8 | Dulyarit Phuangthong | THA | 58.48 | |||
| 4 | 4 | Gary Tan | SGP | 58.69 | |||
| 5 | 2 | Mehdi Addadi | ALG | 58.74 | |||
| 6 | 7 | Mike Fung-a-Wing | SUR | 59.06 | |||
| 7 | 5 | Konstantin Pryakhin | KGZ | 59.86 | |||
| 8 | 6 | Nicky Neckles | BAR | 1:00.19 |
Heat Three (11:34)
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Blaž Medvešek | SLO | 57.26 | |||
| 2 | 7 | Markus Rogan | AUT | 57.35 | |||
| 3 | 4 | Philipp Gilgen | SUI | 57.50 | |||
| 4 | 3 | Mattias Ohlin | SWE | 57.51 | |||
| 5 | 5 | Scott Talbot | NZL | 57.86 | |||
| 6 | 8 | Ivan Angelov | BUL | 58.03 | |||
| 7 | 6 | Milorad Čavić | SCG | 58.25 | |||
| 8 | 1 | Haitham Hassan | EGY | 58.67 |
Heat Four (11:37)
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Simon Dufour | FRA | 56.01 | |||
| 2 | 2 | Sergey Ostapchuk | RUS | 56.26 | |||
| 3 | 7 | Răzvan Florea | ROU | 56.35 | |||
| 4 | 4 | Alex Lim | MAS | 56.81 | |||
| =5 | 1 | Miroslav Machovič | SVK | 56.95 | |||
| =5 | 8 | Nuno Laurentino | POR | 56.95 | |||
| 7 | 6 | Ouyang Kunpeng | CHN | 57.47 | |||
| 8 | 3 | Eduardo Otero | ARG | 58.09 |
Heat Five (11:40)
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Stev Theloke | GER | 55.00 | |||
| 2 | 1 | Bartosz Kizierowski | POL | 55.14 | |||
| 3 | 4 | Neil Walker | USA | 55.34 | |||
| 4 | 3 | Gordan Kožulj | CRO | 55.43 | |||
| 5 | 2 | Eithan Urbach | ISR | 55.44 | |||
| 6 | 7 | Mariusz Siembida | POL | 56.27 | |||
| 7 | 8 | Emanuele Merisi | ITA | 56.35 | |||
| 8 | 6 | Rogério Romero | BRA | 56.44 |
Heat Six (11:43)
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Matt Welsh | AUS | 54.70 | |||
| 2 | 3 | Steffen Driesen | GER | 55.39 | |||
| 3 | 5 | Rodolfo Falcón | CUB | 55.61 | |||
| 4 | 6 | David Ortega | ESP | 55.80 | |||
| 5 | 1 | Derya Büyükuncu | TUR | 56.21 | |||
| 6 | 7 | Marko Strahija | CRO | 56.26 | |||
| 7 | 2 | Darius Grigalionis | LTU | 56.47 | |||
| 8 | 8 | Simon Thirsk | RSA | 57.06 |
Heat Seven (11:47)
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Lenny Krayzelburg | USA | 54.38 | |||
| 2 | 5 | Josh Watson | AUS | 55.09 | |||
| 3 | 3 | Alexandre Massura | BRA | 55.58 | |||
| 4 | 2 | Péter Horváth | HUN | 55.81 | |||
| 5 | 8 | Chris Renaud | CAN | 55.85 | |||
| 6 | 1 | Adam Ruckwood | GBR | 56.19 | |||
| 7 | 6 | Mark Versfeld | CAN | 56.50 | |||
| 8 | 7 | Volodymyr Nikolaichuk | UKR | 56.71 |
Semi-Finals (17 September 2000)
Fastest eight advanced to the final.
Heat One (20:10)
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Matt Welsh | AUS | 54.52 | |||
| 2 | 5 | Josh Watson | AUS | 54.93 | |||
| 3 | 3 | Neil Walker | USA | 55.20 | |||
| 4 | 1 | Chris Renaud | CAN | 55.70 | |||
| 5 | 2 | Alexandre Massura | BRA | 56.07 | |||
| 6 | 6 | Gordan Kožulj | CRO | 56.26 | |||
| 7 | 7 | David Ortega | ESP | 56.33 | |||
| 8 | 8 | Adam Ruckwood | GBR | 56.34 |
Heat Two (20:15)
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Lenny Krayzelburg | USA | 54.32 | |||
| 2 | 5 | Stev Theloke | GER | 54.95 | |||
| 3 | 2 | Eithan Urbach | ISR | 55.31 | |||
| 4 | 3 | Bartosz Kizierowski | POL | 55.34 | |||
| 5 | 6 | Steffen Driesen | GER | 55.41 | |||
| 6 | 7 | Rodolfo Falcón | CUB | 55.59 | |||
| 7 | 1 | Péter Horváth | HUN | 55.65 | |||
| 8 | 8 | Simon Dufour | FRA | 55.79 |
Final (18 September 2000 — 19:50)
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Lenny Krayzelburg | USA | 53.72 | |||
| 2 | 5 | Matt Welsh | AUS | 54.07 | |||
| 3 | 6 | Stev Theloke | GER | 54.82 | |||
| 4 | 3 | Josh Watson | AUS | 55.01 | |||
| 5 | 1 | Bartosz Kizierowski | POL | 55.04 | |||
| 6 | 2 | Neil Walker | USA | 55.14 | |||
| 7 | 8 | Steffen Driesen | GER | 55.27 | |||
| 8 | 7 | Eithan Urbach | ISR | 55.74 |