Paris 2024 Olympics, Thomas Ceccon dominates the 100-meter backstroke: it’s gold!
Another sensational gold for Italian swimming.
Thomas Ceccon wins the gold medal in the 100-meter backstroke final at the Paris 2024 Olympics. It was a masterful performance for the Venetian, who was perfect in his wait-and-see race strategy in the first 50 meters and then placed the decisive stretch in the final. Behind him was China's Xu Jiayu, who won silver, and the U.S. Ryan Murphy, bronze.
Ceccon, already the world record holder in the 100 backstroke, finished his event with a time of 52:00, 32 hundredths ahead of the second-place finisher and 39 ahead of the third. He had already won the bronze medal in the men’s 4×100 freestyle along with Alessandro Miressi, Paolo Conte Bonin and Manuel Frigo.
Ceccon's gold comes on the heels of the medal in the same metal won by Nicolò Martinenghi in the 100 breaststroke. "I am speechless, I do not know what to say. Once again I proved that it only matters to be able to seize the moment. The time è was not the best, but only being on that podium matters. After winning World and European Championships I also managed to win the Olympics, è really fantastic. During the race I was not thinking about anything, thanks to everyone, I really have no words", his comment.
Martinenghi and Ceccon thus join the very short list of blue Olympic gold medal swimmers, joining Fioravanti, Rosolino, Paltrinieri and Federica Pellegrini.
