The men's 200 metre backstroke event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 20–21 September at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia. There were 45 competitors from 38 nations. Each nation had been limited to two swimmers in the event since 1984. The event was won by Lenny Krayzelburg of the United States, with his countryman Aaron Peirsol taking silver. It was the second consecutive Games that Americans had finished one-two in the event (Brad Bridgewater and Tripp Schwenk had done so in 1996). Bronze went to Matt Welsh of Australia, the nation's first medal in the event since 1980. Soviet-born American Krayzelburg became the fourth swimmer in Olympic history to strike a backstroke double, since Roland Matthes did so in 1968 and 1972, John Naber in 1976, and Rick Carey in 1984. He powered past his nearest rivals Peirsol and Australia's overwhelming favorite Welsh to hit the wall first in a new Olympic record of 1:56.76. At only 17 years of age, Peirsol trailed behind by over half a second (0.59) to take a silver in 1:57.35. Meanwhile, Welsh settled only for the bronze in an Oceanian record of 1:57.59. Iceland's Örn Arnarson came up with a spectacular swim to earn a fourth spot in 1:59.00, holding off Italy's Emanuele Merisi (1:59.01), bronze medalist in Atlanta four years earlier, by a hundredth of a second (0.01). Romania's Răzvan Florea finished sixth with a time of 1:59.05, while Brazil's Rogério Romero (1:59.27), competing at his fourth Olympics, and Croatia's Gordan Kožulj (1:59.38) closed out the field. For the first time in Olympic history, all eight swimmers went under a two-minute barrier. Earlier, Krayzelburg established a new Olympic standard of 1:58.40 on the morning prelims to cut off Martin López-Zubero's eight-year record by seven hundredths of a second (0.07). He lowered it to 1:57.27 in the semifinals. Background This was the 11th appearance of the 200 metre backstroke event. It was first held in 1900. The event did not return until 1964; since then, it has been on the programme at every Summer Games. From 1904 to 1960, a men's 100 metre backstroke was held instead. In 1964, only the 200 metres was held. Beginning in 1968 and ever since, both the 100 and 200 metre versions have been held. Two of the 8 finalists from the 1996 Games returned: bronze medalist Emanuele Merisi of Italy and