Evgeny Rylov of the Russian Olympic Committee
The American men have lost a backstroke race at the Olympic pool for the first time since 1992.
Russian athletes swept the top two spots in the 100-meter back, with Evgeny Rylov claiming the gold medal in 51.98 seconds and teammate Kliment Kolesnikov taking the silver in 52.00. The defending Olympic champion, American Ryan Murphy, settled for the bronze in 52.19.
It was the first backstroke defeat for the U.S. men at the Olympics since the 1992 Barcelona Games. They won 12 straight golds at the last six Olympics, including Murphy’s sweep of the 100- and 200-meter backstroke at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
But the streak finally ended at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.
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