Olympic Swimming 2024: Men's 200M Backstroke Medal Winners, Times and Results

Hubert Kos produced a come-from-behind performance to win the men's 200-meter backstroke on Thursday.

The Hungarian closed fast on Greece's Apostolos Christou, who surprisingly led the race after the 150-meter mark.

Kos ended up with a winning margin of 56-hundredths over Christou. Roman Mityukov of Switzerland came home in third place.

No Americans medaled in the 200-meter backstroke. That is the first time since 1992 in which no American medaled in the event. Team USA swimmers had won six straight 200-meter backstrokes from 1996-2016.

Results

1. Hubert Kos (Hungary) - 1:54.26

2. Apostolos Christou (Greece) - 1:54.82

3. Roman Mityukov (Switzerland) - 1:54.85

4. Mewen Tomac (France) - 1:55.38

5. Keaton Jones (United States) - 1:55.39

6. Hugo Gonzalez de Oliveira (Spain) - 1:55.47

7. Pieter Coetze (South Africa) - 1:55.60

8. Lukas Maertens (Germany) - 1:55.97

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There was a point in the race where Kos' gold-medal status came under question.

Christou surprisingly held the lead going into the final 50 meters over in one of the outside lanes.

However, Kos chased down the Greek swimmer and picked up the first gold medal at the Paris Games for Hungary.

Kos earned the latest gold medal for an athlete coached by Bob Bowman. The American coach, who famously helped Michael Phelps win 23 gold medals, is also the coach of France's two-time gold medalist Leon Marchand.

Christou fell off the pace during the final 50 meters and finished 56-hundredths of a second behind Kos to earn Greece's best finish of the entire Olympics. Greece has one silver from Christou and a bronze from judo.

Mityulov almost caught Christou at the end, but he finished three-hundredths out of second and earned a bronze for Switzerland.

Keaton Jones was the only American in the final. He was considered a long shot to medal and finished fifth to end the American run of medalists in the event.