updated 6:02 p.m. ET Aug. 16, 2004

ATHENS, Greece - Aaron Peirsol won the Olympic 100-meter backstroke Monday night, keeping the gold in the American column for the third consecutive Olympics.

Peirsol, the reigning world champion from Irvine, Calif., finished first in 54.06 seconds. He was under teammate Lenny Krayzelburg’s world-record mark of 53.60 after 50 meters, but fell off the pace.

Peirsol came in as the favorite and lived up to the billing.

“I’m elated,” he said. “It’s a huge weight off my shoulders.”

Peirsol, who wears contacts but has to leave them out when he’s in the pool, squinted as he looked at the scoreboard. He didn’t want to look foolish by celebrating before he was sure the “1” was beside his name.

“I think I looked about three times before I was sure it was me,” he said. “I’ve made that mistake before.”

The only disappointment for Peirsol: His friend and mentor came up short of a medal. Lenny Krayzelburg, who won three gold medals in Sydney, finished fourth — just .02 out of third.

“It was definitely disappointing,” said Krayzelburg, who battled back from surgery on both shoulders to make the Olympic team. “I thought I could do better. I’ve been feeling so good. The times weren’t really fast, for whatever reason. A 54.06 won it. I definitely thought I could have been there. Sometimes, you have good days. Sometimes, you have bad days. Today was a bad day.”

Markus Rogan of Austria earned the silver medal in 54.35, while Tomomi Morita of Japan took bronze in 54.36. Matt Welsh of Australia, who won silver at the Sydney Games, was fifth in 54.52.

Peirsol will be favored to win another gold in the 200 backstroke, having eclipsed his own world record at the U.S. Olympic trials last month. He won silver in that event four years ago, behind Krayzelburg.

No matter what happens this time, Peirsol already has his gold.

“It is very special to me and I’m very happy to get it, especially for my team,” he said. “It’s most important to keep the legacy going and start something new.”

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