| | Event type
100 metres Backstroke, Men
| Date | 15 – 16 August 2004 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Olympiako Kentro Ugrou Stivou, Olympiako Athletiko Kentro Athinon Spiros Loues, Athina (Main Pool) |
| Participants | 44 from 38 countries |
As the clear winner of both backstroke events at the 2003 World Championships, Aaron Peirsol was an obvious favourite to match this feat at the Athens Olympics and nothing happened in either heat or semi-final to discourage the opinion that the American would be Olympic champion. Peirsol trailed early leader Matt Welsh at the halfway point then took the race apart on the final length, winning comfortably ahead of Markus Rogan of Austria with Japan’s Tomomi Morita touching ahead of defending champion, Lenny Krayzelburg, by a mere two hundredths of a second. Peirsol’s victory was the 12th win by an American in this event but, in contrast, Rogan’s medal the first by Austrian for 92 years. Piersol would return in 2008 to become the first man to successfully defend his Olympic title since Roland Matthes in 1972.
| Pos | Swimmer | NOC | R1 | SF | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aaron Peirsol |  USA | 54.65 (2 h6) | 54.34 (1 h1) | 54.06 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | Markus Rogan |  AUT | 54.87 (1 h5) | 54.42 (2 h1) | 54.35 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | Tomomi Morita |  JPN | 54.41 (1 h6) | 54.62 (1 h2) | 54.36 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | Lenny Krayzelburg | USA | 54.87 (3 h6) | 54.63 (2 h2) | 54.38 (4) | |||
| 5 | Matt Welsh |  AUS | 55.35 (3 h5) | 54.69 (3 h2) | 54.52 (5) | |||
| 6 | László Cseh, Jr. |  HUN | 54.80 (1 h4) | 54.86 (4 h2) | 54.61 (6) | |||
| 7 | Steffen Driesen |  GER | 54.92 (2 h5) | 54.64 (3 h1) | 54.63 (7) | |||
| 8 | Marco di Carli | GER | 55.58 (4 h4) | 55.03 (5 h2) | 55.27 (8) | |||
| 9 | Arkady Vyatchanin |  RUS | 55.17 (2 h4) | 55.20 (6 h2) | – | |||
| 10 | Răzvan Florea |  ROU | 55.77 (6 h6) | 55.27 (7 h2) | – | |||
| 11 | Ouyang Kunpeng |  CHN | 55.50 (3 h4) | 55.28 (4 h1) | – | |||
| 12 | Gregor Tait |  GBR | 55.77 (5 h5) | 55.31 (5 h1) | – | |||
| 13 | Gerhard Zandberg |  RSA | 55.62 (4 h5) | 55.76 (6 h1) | – | |||
| 14 | Gordan Kožulj |  CRO | 55.80 (1 h3) | 56.02 (7 h1) | – | |||
| 15 | Alex Lim |  MAS | 55.22 (4 h6) | 56.08 (8 h1) | – | |||
| 16 | Simon Dufour |  FRA | 55.76 (5 h6) | 56.15 (8 h2) | – | |||
| =17 | Aristidis Grigoriadis |  GRE | 55.85 (2 h3) | – | – | |||
| =17 | Josh Watson | AUS | 55.85 (6 h5) | – | – | |||
| 19 | Yevgeny Alyoshin | RUS | 55.91 (5 h4) | – | – | |||
| 20 | Ryan Pini |  PNG | 55.97 (3 h3) | – | – | |||
| 21 | Pierre Roger | FRA | 56.07 (7 h5) | – | – | |||
| 22 | Cam Gibson |  NZL | 56.14 (6 h4) | – | – | |||
| 23 | Adam Mania |  POL | 56.20 (7 h4) | – | – | |||
| 24 | Darius Grigalionis |  LTU | 56.21 (4 h3) | – | – | |||
| 25 | Nicky Neckles |  BAR | 56.32 (1 h2) | – | – | |||
| 26 | Derya Büyükuncu |  TUR | 56.34 (5 h3) | – | – | |||
| =27 | Ľuboš Križko |  SVK | 56.62 (2 h2) | – | – | |||
| =27 | Matt Rose |  CAN | 56.62 (8 h5) | – | – | |||
| =27 | Volodymyr Nikolaichuk |  UKR | 56.62 (8 h4) | – | – | |||
| 30 | Seong Min |  KOR | 56.78 (3 h2) | – | – | |||
| 31 | Ahmed Hussain |  EGY | 56.86 (6 h3) | – | – | |||
| 32 | Paulo Machado |  BRA | 57.07 (7 h3) | – | – | |||
| 33 | Eduardo Otero |  ARG | 57.28 (8 h3) | – | – | |||
| 34 | Péter Horváth | HUN | 57.29 (7 h6) | – | – | |||
| 35 | Aschwin Wildeboer |  ESP | 57.35 (8 h6) | – | – | |||
| 36 | Matti Mäki |  FIN | 57.57 (4 h2) | – | – | |||
| 37 | George Gleason |  ISV | 57.64 (5 h2) | – | – | |||
| 38 | Chris Vythoulkas |  BAH | 58.31 (1 h1) | – | – | |||
| 39 | Brendan Ashby |  ZIM | 58.91 (6 h2) | – | – | |||
| 40 | Igor Beretić |  SCG | 59.38 (7 h2) | – | – | |||
| 41 | Stanislav Osinsky |  KAZ | 59.92 (2 h1) | – | – | |||
| 42 | Alexandru Ivlev |  MDA | 1:00.13 (3 h1) | – | – | |||
| 43 | Danil Bugakov |  UZB | 1:02.28 (8 h2) | – | – | |||
| 44 | Omar Abu-Fares |  JOR | 1:02.36 (4 h1) | – | – | |||
| Donnie Defreitas |  VIN | – (DNS h1) | – | – |
Round One (15 August 2004)
Fastest 16 advanced to the semi-finals.
Heat One (11:11)
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | Reaction | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Chris Vythoulkas | BAH | 58.31 | 0.69 | |||
| 2 | 4 | Stanislav Osinsky | KAZ | 59.92 | 0.77 | |||
| 3 | 5 | Alexandru Ivlev | MDA | 1:00.13 | 0.57 | |||
| 4 | 6 | Omar Abu-Fares | JOR | 1:02.36 | 0.62 | |||
| 2 | Donnie Defreitas | VIN | – | – |
Heat Two (11:14)
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | Reaction | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Nicky Neckles | BAR | 56.32 | 0.60 | |||
| 2 | 6 | Ľuboš Križko | SVK | 56.62 | 0.60 | |||
| 3 | 4 | Seong Min | KOR | 56.78 | 0.54 | |||
| 4 | 2 | Matti Mäki | FIN | 57.57 | 0.75 | |||
| 5 | 3 | George Gleason | ISV | 57.64 | 0.80 | |||
| 6 | 1 | Brendan Ashby | ZIM | 58.91 | 0.66 | |||
| 7 | 7 | Igor Beretić | SCG | 59.38 | 0.72 | |||
| 8 | 8 | Danil Bugakov | UZB | 1:02.28 | 0.65 |
Heat Three (11:17)
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | Reaction | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Gordan Kožulj | CRO | 55.80 | 0.75 | |||
| 2 | 2 | Aristidis Grigoriadis | GRE | 55.85 | 0.72 | |||
| 3 | 6 | Ryan Pini | PNG | 55.97 | 0.74 | |||
| 4 | 3 | Darius Grigalionis | LTU | 56.21 | 0.60 | |||
| 5 | 7 | Derya Büyükuncu | TUR | 56.34 | 0.57 | |||
| 6 | 4 | Ahmed Hussain | EGY | 56.86 | 0.60 | |||
| 7 | 1 | Paulo Machado | BRA | 57.07 | 0.66 | |||
| 8 | 8 | Eduardo Otero | ARG | 57.28 | 0.68 |
Heat Four (11:20)
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | Reaction | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | László Cseh, Jr. | HUN | 54.80 | 0.66 | |||
| 2 | 4 | Arkady Vyatchanin | RUS | 55.17 | 0.88 | |||
| 3 | 5 | Ouyang Kunpeng | CHN | 55.50 | 0.56 | |||
| 4 | 3 | Marco di Carli | GER | 55.58 | 0.59 | |||
| 5 | 2 | Yevgeny Alyoshin | RUS | 55.91 | 0.71 | |||
| 6 | 7 | Cam Gibson | NZL | 56.14 | 0.80 | |||
| 7 | 1 | Adam Mania | POL | 56.20 | 0.55 | |||
| 8 | 8 | Volodymyr Nikolaichuk | UKR | 56.62 | 0.70 |
Heat Five (11:23)
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | Reaction | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Markus Rogan | AUT | 54.87 | 0.75 | |||
| 2 | 5 | Steffen Driesen | GER | 54.92 | 0.69 | |||
| 3 | 4 | Matt Welsh | AUS | 55.35 | 0.69 | |||
| 4 | 1 | Gerhard Zandberg | RSA | 55.62 | 0.75 | |||
| 5 | 6 | Gregor Tait | GBR | 55.77 | 0.69 | |||
| 6 | 2 | Josh Watson | AUS | 55.85 | 0.68 | |||
| 7 | 8 | Pierre Roger | FRA | 56.07 | 0.70 | |||
| 8 | 7 | Matt Rose | CAN | 56.62 | 0.58 |
Heat Six (11:26)
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | Reaction | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Tomomi Morita | JPN | 54.41 | 0.56 | |||
| 2 | 4 | Aaron Peirsol | USA | 54.65 | 0.70 | |||
| 3 | 5 | Lenny Krayzelburg | USA | 54.87 | 0.67 | |||
| 4 | 6 | Alex Lim | MAS | 55.22 | 0.63 | |||
| 5 | 7 | Simon Dufour | FRA | 55.76 | 0.71 | |||
| 6 | 1 | Răzvan Florea | ROU | 55.77 | 0.66 | |||
| 7 | 8 | Péter Horváth | HUN | 57.29 | 0.67 | |||
| 8 | 2 | Aschwin Wildeboer | ESP | 57.35 | 0.64 |
Semi-Finals (15 August 2004)
Fastest eight advanced to the final.
Heat One (20:30)
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | Reaction | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Aaron Peirsol | USA | 54.34 | 0.68 | |||
| 2 | 5 | Markus Rogan | AUT | 54.42 | 0.73 | |||
| 3 | 3 | Steffen Driesen | GER | 54.64 | 0.70 | |||
| 4 | 2 | Ouyang Kunpeng | CHN | 55.28 | 0.53 | |||
| 5 | 1 | Gregor Tait | GBR | 55.31 | 0.61 | |||
| 6 | 7 | Gerhard Zandberg | RSA | 55.76 | 0.76 | |||
| 7 | 8 | Gordan Kožulj | CRO | 56.02 | 0.68 | |||
| 8 | 6 | Alex Lim | MAS | 56.08 | 0.66 |
Heat Two (20:35)
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | Reaction | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Tomomi Morita | JPN | 54.62 | 0.53 | |||
| 2 | 3 | Lenny Krayzelburg | USA | 54.63 | 0.62 | |||
| 3 | 2 | Matt Welsh | AUS | 54.69 | 0.66 | |||
| 4 | 5 | László Cseh, Jr. | HUN | 54.86 | 0.62 | |||
| 5 | 7 | Marco di Carli | GER | 55.03 | 0.57 | |||
| 6 | 6 | Arkady Vyatchanin | RUS | 55.20 | 0.89 | |||
| 7 | 8 | Răzvan Florea | ROU | 55.27 | 0.63 | |||
| 8 | 1 | Simon Dufour | FRA | 56.15 | 0.68 |
Final (16 August 2004 — 19:59)
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | Reaction | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Aaron Peirsol | USA | 54.06 | 0.67 | |||
| 2 | 5 | Markus Rogan | AUT | 54.35 | 0.76 | |||
| 3 | 3 | Tomomi Morita | JPN | 54.36 | 0.54 | |||
| 4 | 6 | Lenny Krayzelburg | USA | 54.38 | 0.67 | |||
| 5 | 7 | Matt Welsh | AUS | 54.52 | 0.63 | |||
| 6 | 1 | László Cseh, Jr. | HUN | 54.61 | 0.61 | |||
| 7 | 2 | Steffen Driesen | GER | 54.63 | 0.68 | |||
| 8 | 8 | Marco di Carli | GER | 55.27 | 0.58 |