[1] Ryan Murphy continued the streak of American dominance in the sprint backstroke, as he pulled away from the rest of the field to claim his country's sixth straight Olympic title.

[2][3] Meanwhile, China's Xu Jiayu put up a brisk effort to take silver with a 52.31, and spoil the 1–2 finish for the Americans.

[5][6] Leading the race early on the initial length, Australia's defending world champion Mitch Larkin missed the podium with a fourth-place time in 52.43.

[7] France's Camille Lacourt picked up the fifth spot in 52.70, with Russian swimmer and Youth Olympic champion Evgeny Rylov (52.74) trailing him by a 0.04-second margin.

Japan's Ryosuke Irie (53.42), the Olympic bronze medalist from London 2012, and Romania's Robert Glință (53.50) rounded out the field.