Larkin falls short as US backstroke dominance ends

For the first time since 1992, the American men have lost a backstroke final in Olympic competition.

Russia swept the top two spots in the 100-metre backstroke, with Evgeny Rylov claiming the gold medal in 51.98 seconds and teammate Kliment Kolesnikov taking the silver in 52.00.

America’s defending Olympic champion Ryan Murphy settled for the bronze in 52.19.

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It was the first backstroke defeat for the US men at the Olympics since the Barcelona Games. They had won 12 straight golds at the last six Olympics, including Murphy’s sweep of the 100 and 200 back at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

But the streak finally ended at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.

Australian Mitch Larkin, racing from lane three, came seventh in a time of 52.79 and paid for a poor start.

The pace of the final was especially quick, with Larkin falling just 0.6 seconds off bronze medal winner Murphy.

In 2016, Murphy won gold in the 100m backstroke in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, setting a world record in the process.

Larkin finished second in his semi-final with a time of 52.76 – and swam a 52.97 in the prelims.

– with AP

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