Ceccon realizes childhood dream with Olympic gold in 100m backstroke

Thomas Ceccon fulfilled a childhood dream by capturing Italy’s second swimming gold of the Paris Olympics with a thrilling victory in the men’s 100m backstroke on Monday. Ceccon clocked a time of 52.00 seconds, with China’s Xu Jiayu securing silver just 0.32 seconds behind and Ryan Murphy of the USA taking bronze.

Ceccon, who placed fourth in Tokyo, added to Italy’s celebrations following Nicolo Martinenghi’s triumph in the 100m breaststroke on Sunday. The 23-year-old, who won the world championship in the 100m backstroke in Budapest in 2022, claimed his second medal of the week after a bronze in the 4x100m freestyle relay.

“Ever since I was a kid I knew I could win this medal, and today is that day,” Ceccon told Italy’s Rai television. “I can’t be happier. As a kid, at 15, the coach asked me: ‘What is your dream?’ I answered: ‘To win the Olympics,’ and he said: ‘Calm down.’ It’s always been my dream. Winning here isn’t like at the World Championships; it’s a race that happens every four years. I went strong and tried to hold on until the end. And in the end I was exhausted.”

Xu Jiayu’s silver was a frustrating repeat of his second-place finish in the same event in Rio in 2016. Meanwhile, Murphy, the 29-year-old from Chicago, who won three golds in Rio, including the 100m backstroke, hoped to restore his dominance but settled for bronze. This medal marked his seventh across three Olympics.

“I feel good about it. That’s a really talented field. What I’ve improved on over the years is being able to frame things really quickly,” Murphy said. “Thomas and Xu, they’re both really talented guys, they’ve been really good at this sport for a long time. They deal well with pressure. Being third behind them, I’m not disappointed.”

(Source: AFP)