Ryan Murphy Wins His Seventh Olympic Medal in 100-Meter Backstroke Race

Murphy holds the Olympic record in the event, which he set in 2016 when he won the gold

Ryan Murphy is an Olympic medalist, once again.

The Team USA swimmer just earned his seventh Olympic medal at the Paris Games. Murphy, 29, won third place in the 100-meter backstroke race. Thomas Ceccon of Italy earned the gold with a time of 52 seconds, and Jiayu Xu was 32 seconds behind for the silver medal. Murphy finished the race with 52.39 — an improvement on his qualifying time.

Murphy still holds the Olympic record in the event, which he set during the Rio Games back in 2016. That year, he won the gold medal. He followed it up in Tokyo in 2021 with the bronze. This bronze marks three consecutive medals in the same race for Murphy.

Murphy is now among the most-decorated Olympic athletes of all time, an elite list that is made up of hundreds of superstar athletes with more than six medals.

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This third Games has felt different for Murphy. He told Sports Illustrated ahead of the Games of his first Olympic run in Rio, "I just went into the Olympics, and I really had no idea what to expect. I think the naïveté was pretty good for me. I was just able to follow the leaders we had on the team and just kind of go in there with no pressure. It allowed me to just focus [o]n racing."

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This time around, with a slew of medals to his name, Murphy said he's more aware of "the consequences of performance, and I think that’s where a lot of the pressure comes. I think I'm good at dealing with pressure, but definitely understand the magnitude of the pressure now."

These Games are not yet over for the athlete. On July 31, he'll swim in the men's 200-meter backstroke, and he could still be selected to compete in upcoming men's relays for Team USA. The swimming competition continues through Aug. 4.

To learn more about all the Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls, come to people.com to check out ongoing coverage before, during and after the games. And sign up for Going for Gold, our Olympics newsletter, to get the biggest stories from the Games delivered straight to your inbox. Watch the Paris Olympics and Paralympics, beginning July 26, on NBC and Peacock.

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