The women's 200 metre backstroke event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 14–16 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China. After claiming three silver medals at these Games, Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry stormed home on the final lap to defend her Olympic title in the event. She posted a time of 2:05.24 to crush a world record set by U.S. swimmer Margaret Hoelzer from the Olympic trials one month earlier. Meanwhile, Hoelzer added a silver to her hardware from the 100 m backstroke, when she touched the wall in 2:06.23, the second-fastest effort of her career. Japan's Reiko Nakamura managed to repeat a bronze from Athens four years earlier, in an Asian record of 2:07.13.