Olympic Swimming 2016: Men's 100M Backstroke Medal Winners, Times and Results

A strong effort in the final 50 meters propelled Ryan Murphy to a gold medal in the men's 100-meter backstroke at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro on Monday.The 21-year-old American set an Olympic record, finishing in 51.97 seconds:NFL Network's Michael Silver was proud to see a fellow University of California, Berkeley, graduate represent the school on the big stage:Murphy got off to a strong start, but he and the rest of the field were chasing Australia's MitchellLarkin through the first 50 meters asLarkin made the turn in first place. Larkin began slowing down quickly thereafter, though, which opened the door for Murphy.Little separated the top four swimmers until the final 25 meters. Murphy turned on the jets and edged out ahead of China's Xu Jiayu. The 0.34-second gap between the top two finishers was a testament to Murphy's incredible closing speed. He turned what had been a close race into a relatively comfortable win.Larkin, meanwhile, slipped to fourth place and finished 0.03 seconds behind American David Plummer. Yahoo Sports' Pat Forde was surprised to see the Australians shut out in both the men's and women's backstroke events:Plummer is one of the most inspiring stories in this year's swimming events. At 30 years old, he's competing in his first Olympic Games. Paul Carr of ESPN Stats & Info put Plummer's bronze medal into perspective:The United States has dominated in the pool in Rio. Murphy's gold medal was the third for an American swimmer, including the men's 4x100-meter freestyle relay. The U.S. has collected 12 swimming medals, well ahead of second-place China, which has earned four medals in the pool.
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