American Ryan Murphy Wins Gold in men’s 100 back
American Ryan Murphy Wins Gold in men’s 100 back: RIO DE JANEIRO — Ryan Murphy continued America’s tradition of excellence in the men’s 100 backstroke, beating a loaded field to win gold in an Olympic-record 51.97 seconds Monday night, the second-fastest time in history. Fellow American David Plummer took bronze.
This particular event is a major source of pride for the U.S. and its dominance; this is the sixth consecutive gold medal for the Americans in the event. The torch has apparently been passed to Murphy from Matt Grevers, who narrowly missed qualifying for these Olympics but won this event in London. Before him, it was Aaron Peirsol, who won it twice, in Athens and Beijing. And Lenny Krayzelburg in Sydney, and Jeff Rouse in Atlanta. It’s been 24 years since a non-American man won the 100 back.
Six weeks ago at the Olympic trials, Murphy talked about what it means to him to be continuing in that line of backstrokers.
“It’s huge,” Murphy said. “Ever since I started swimming, it’s been a dream of mine to go to the Olympics. When I think of Olympics, I think of those guys.
“I was always a backstroker growing up, so that was the event I always got super excited to watch for the Olympics. I can’t remember 2000, so I can’t really remember the Krayzelburg days, but definitely Aaron Peirsol — he was one of the guys for me, and one of the guys that I tried to model my swimming after.”
This is the first Olympic medal for Murphy, 21, a first-time Olympian who will have an opportunity to double his total later in the week with the 200 back. He swims collegiately at Cal under coach Dave Durden, who is also serving as an assistant coach for the U.S. Olympic team.
Fellow Cal Bear backstroker Kathleen Baker also medaled Monday night, grabbing silver with a personal-best 58.75 in the women’s 100 backstroke.
Source : http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/rio-2016/2016/08/08/ryan-murphy-david-plummer-mens-100m-backstroke-final-results/88435284/
