The women's 200 metre backstroke event at the 2004 Olympic Games was contested at the Olympic Aquatic Centre of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex in Athens, Greece on August 19 and 20.
Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry added gold to her silver and bronze medals by a storming victory in this event, breaking an African record time of 2:09.19. Russia's Stanislava Komarova took home the silver at 2:09.72, while Japan's Reiko Nakamura and Germany's Antje Buschschulte shared their triumph for the bronze medal, in a joint time of 2:09.88. British swimmer and world champion Katy Sexton, on the other hand, finished outside the medals in seventh place, with a time of 2:12.11. Since Zimbabwe made its official debut in 1980, Coventry also became the nation's first athlete in its history to claim an individual Olympic medal.
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
Results
Heats
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Rank !! Heat !! Lane !! Name !! Nationality !! Time !! Notes
|-bgcolor=#ccffcc
| 1 || 4 || 4 ||align=left| Stanislava Komarova ||align=left| || 2:10.71 || Q
|-bgcolor=#ccffcc
| 2 || 3 || 4 ||align=left| Reiko Nakamura ||align=left| || 2:11.14 || Q
|-bgcolor=#ccffcc
| 3 || 3 || 1 ||align=left| Kirsty Coventry ||align=left| || 2:12.49 || Q
|-bgcolor=#ccffcc
| 4 || 5 || 4 ||align=left| Margaret Hoelzer ||align=left| || 2:12.55 || Q
|-bgcolor=#ccffcc
| 5 || 4 || 6 ||align=left| Antje Buschschulte ||align=left| || 2:12.96 || Q
|-bgcolor=#ccffcc
| 6 || 5 || 2 ||align=left| Jennifer Fratesi ||align=left| || 2:13.00 || Q
|-bgcolor=#ccffcc
| 7 || 5 || 3 ||align=left| Louise Ørnstedt ||align=left| || 2:13.05 || Q
|-bgcolor=#ccffcc
| 8 || 3 || 5 ||align=left| Katy Sexton ||align=left| || 2:13.25 || Q
|-bgcolor=#ccffcc
| 9 || 4 || 1 ||align=left| Hannah McLean ||align=left| || 2:13.33 || Q
|-bgcolor=#ccffcc
| 10 || 4 || 5 ||align=left| Aya Terakawa ||align=left| || 2:13.55 || Q
|-bgcolor=#ccffcc
| 11 || 3 || 2 ||align=left| Melissa Morgan ||align=left| || 2:14.06 || Q
|-bgcolor=#ccffcc
| 12 || 2 || 2 ||align=left| Evelyn Verrasztó ||align=left| || 2:14.07 || Q
|-bgcolor=#ccffcc
| 13 || 5 || 6 ||align=left| Nicole Hetzer ||align=left| || 2:14.42 || Q
|-bgcolor=#ccffcc
| 14 || 5 || 5 ||align=left| Iryna Amshennikova ||align=left| || 2:14.49 || Q
|-bgcolor=#ccffcc
| 15 || 5 || 1 ||align=left| Frances Adcock ||align=left| || 2:14.85 || Q
|-bgcolor=#ccffcc
| 16 || 4 || 8 ||align=left| Sanja Jovanović ||align=left| || 2:15.01 || Q
|-
| 17 || 4 || 2 ||align=left| Kristen Caverly ||align=left| || 2:15.34 ||
|-
| 18 || 3 || 7 ||align=left| Elizabeth Warden ||align=left| || 2:15.77 ||
|-
| 19 || 2 || 6 ||align=left| Kateřina Pivoňková ||align=left| || 2:16.08 ||
|-
| 20 || 4 || 3 ||align=left| Karen Lee ||align=left| || 2:16.10 ||
|-
| rowspan=2|21 || 3 || 8 ||align=left| Alessia Filippi ||align=left| || rowspan=2|2:17.29 ||
|-
| 2 || 7 ||align=left| Şadan Derya Erke ||align=left| ||
|-
| 23 || 5 || 7 ||align=left| Anja Čarman ||align=left| || 2:17.62 ||
|-
| 24 || 2 || 1 ||align=left| Lin Man-hsu ||align=left| || 2:17.68 ||
|-
| 25 || 2 || 5 ||align=left| Lee Da-hye ||align=left| || 2:17.73 ||
|-
| 26 || 2 || 3 ||align=left| Gisela Morales ||align=left| || 2:18.23 ||
|-
| 27 || 5 || 8 ||align=left| Alexandra Putra ||align=left| || 2:19.75 ||
|-
| 28 || 1 || 4 ||align=left| Hiu Wai Sherry Tsai ||align=left| || 2:19.83 ||
|-
| 29 || 2 || 8 ||align=left| Chonlathorn Vorathamrong ||align=left| || 2:21.11 ||
|-
| 30 || 2 || 4 ||align=left| Eirini Karastergiou ||align=left| || 2:21.93 ||
|-
| 31 || 1 || 5 ||align=left| Gretchen Gotay Cordero ||align=left| || 2:23.39 ||
|-
| 32 || 1 || 3 ||align=left| Saida Iskandarova ||align=left| || 2:26.17 ||
|-
| 33 || 3 || 3 ||align=left| Zhan Shu ||align=left| || 2:31.56 ||
|-
| || 3 || 6 ||align=left| Chen Xiujun ||align=left| || ||
|-
| || 4 || 7 ||align=left| Alenka Kejžar ||align=left| || ||
|}
Semifinals
Semifinal 1
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Rank !! Lane !! Name !! Nationality !! Time !! Notes
|-bgcolor=#ccffcc
| 1 || 4 ||align=left| Reiko Nakamura ||align=left| || 2:10.14 || Q
|-bgcolor=#ccffcc
| 2 || 5 ||align=left| Margaret Hoelzer ||align=left| || 2:11.68 || Q
|-bgcolor=#ccffcc
| 3 || 2 ||align=left| Aya Terakawa ||align=left| || 2:12.21 || Q
|-bgcolor=#ccffcc
| 4 || 6 ||align=left| Katy Sexton ||align=left| || 2:12.62 || Q
|-
| 5 || 3 ||align=left| Jennifer Fratesi ||align=left| || 2:12.64 ||
|-
| 6 || 8 ||align=left| Sanja Jovanović ||align=left| || 2:13.76 ||
|-
| 7 || 7 ||align=left| Evelyn Verrasztó ||align=left| || 2:13.98 ||
|-
| 8 || 1 ||align=left| Iryna Amshennikova ||align=left| || 2:14.83 ||
|}
Semifinal 2
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Rank !! Lane !! Name !! Nationality !! Time !! Notes
|-bgcolor=#ccffcc
| 1 || 4 ||align=left| Stanislava Komarova ||align=left| || 2:09.62 || Q
|-bgcolor=#ccffcc
| 2 || 5 ||align=left| Kirsty Coventry ||align=left| || 2:10.04 || Q, AF
|-bgcolor=#ccffcc
| 3 || 3 ||align=left| Antje Buschschulte ||align=left| || 2:10.66 || Q
|-bgcolor=#ccffcc
| 4 || 6 ||align=left| Louise Ørnstedt ||align=left| || 2:11.77 || Q
|-
| 5 || 2 ||align=left| Hannah McLean ||align=left| || 2:12.87 ||
|-
| 6 || 1 ||align=left| Nicole Hetzer ||align=left| || 2:13.01 ||
|-
| 7 || 7 ||align=left| Melissa Morgan ||align=left| || 2:13.34 ||
|-
| 8 || 8 ||align=left| Frances Adcock ||align=left| || 2:15.69 ||
|}
Final
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Rank !! Lane !! Swimmer !! Nation !! Time !! Notes
|-
| || 5 ||align=left| Kirsty Coventry ||align=left| || 2:09.19 || AF
|-
| || 4 ||align=left| Stanislava Komarova ||align=left| || 2:09.72 ||
|-
| rowspan=2| || 3 ||align=left| Reiko Nakamura ||align=left| || rowspan=2|2:09.88 ||
|-
| 6 ||align=left| Antje Buschschulte ||align=left| ||
|-
| 5 || 2 ||align=left| Margaret Hoelzer ||align=left| || 2:10.70 ||
|-
| 6 || 7 ||align=left| Louise Ørnstedt ||align=left| || 2:11.15 ||
|-
| 7 || 8 ||align=left| Katy Sexton ||align=left| || 2:12.11 ||
|-
| 8 || 1 ||align=left| Aya Terakawa ||align=left| || 2:12.90 ||
|}
References
External links
- Official Olympic Report