Having won the 100 m backstroke at the Tokyo Games, Rylov became the first Russian swimmer in 25 years to become an Olympic champion.

Previously, Alexander Popov (50 and 100 m freestyle) and Denis Pankratov (100 and 200 m butterfly) won Olympic gold at the 1996 Games in Atlanta.

Earlier it was reported that Evgeny Rylov won the Olympic gold medal in swimming 100 m on the back, while Kolesnikov won silver.