McKeown won the final with a new Olympic record of 2:03.73, making her the first female athlete to win both backstroke events at consecutive Olympics, and the first Australian athlete to win four individual gold medals.

[2] SwimSwam and Swimming World both said that McKeown and Smith were the main contenders for gold.

[2] Both SwimSwam and Swimming World predicted McKeown would win gold, Smith would take silver and Bacon would take bronze.

[2][3] Two days prior to the start of the event, McKeown won the 100 metre backstroke and Smith took silver.

[8] China's Peng Xuwei won the third heat, qualifying with the fastest time of 2:08.29.

[8] Bacon led the first semifinal from beginning to end, qualifying with the fastest time of 2:07.32.

[14][15] McKeown's Olympic record beat Missy Franklin's 2:04.06 mark from the London 2012 Games.