Paris Olympics, Day 3 Finals: Thomas Ceccon Becomes First Italian Man To Win 100m Backstroke Gold (2024)

Paris Olympics, Day 3 Finals: Thomas Ceccon Becomes First Italian Man To Win 100m Backstroke Gold

No Italian man had ever reached the 100m backstroke podium which has historically been dominated by USA athletes who have taken gold at six of the last seven Olympic Games.

Evgeny Rylov was the only non-American to break that streak when he clinched the backstroke double in Tokyo with Kliment Kolesnikov making it an ROC 1-2 in the 100.

However, neither man was competing as a neutral athlete in Paris with Rylov precluded from racing on the international scene by World Aquatics following his appearance at a rally for Russian president Vladimir Putin.

• World Record: Thomas Ceccon, ITA – 51.60 (2022)
• Olympic Record: Ryan Murphy, USA – 51.85 (2016)
• Tokyo Olympic Champion: Evgeny Rylov, ROC – 51.98
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Xu Jiayu had booked lane four in 52.02, five years after the Chinese swimmer won gold at the 2019 worlds and less than 12 months since sweeping the backstroke events at the Asian Games in Hangzhou.

Thomas Ceccon, the man who broke Ryan Murphy’s world record in 2022 with a time of 51.60, claimed lane five alongside Xu for the final.

Anyone who had been at La Defense Arena on Sunday night witnessed the memorable sights and sound that greeted Leon Marchand’s 400IM victory withYohann Ndoye Brouard also receiving a rapturous welcome.

Xu reached the turn first in 24.88 ahead of Murphy (25.04) and Ceccon (25.10) with 0.22 separating the trio only for the Italian to move through the field with a 26.90 second 50 to take the title in 52.00.

Xu was second in 52.32, eight years after silver at Rio 2016, with Murphy replicating his Tokyo silver in 52.39.

Ceccon posted the third-fastest winning time in Games history behind Murphy’s 51.97 in Rio and Rylov’s 51.98 three years ago.

It was Italy’s second gold in as many days following Nicolo Martinenghi’s 100m breaststroke triumph with their men’s medley relay quartet again set to be a title contender three years after third behind the USA and Great Britain.

Apostolos Christou came within 0.02 of Murphy in bronze, the Greek athlete touching in 52.41, followed by South African Pieter Coetze who cut 0.05 from the African record he set in the semis as he lowered it to 52.58.

Hugo Gonzales of Spain was sixth in 52.73, one place ahead of Ndoye Brouard who was joint fifth at the turn and with a strong back end that appeared to be propelling the Frenchman into contention only to finish seventh in 52.77 with Great Britain’s Oli Morgan eighth in 52.84.

Ceccon was fourth in Tokyo, 0.11 off the podium, before setting the 51.60 WR en-route to gold at the 2022 worlds in Budapest only forMurphy to reclaim the title in f*ckuoka last year as he edged out the Italian by 0.05.

“It was tough. I changed my tactical approach for tonight,” said Ceccon. “I have to say the last few metres I was very tired. But these races are won like this. Last year I lost because I was too slow and made a few errors.

“This year, I didn’t make them. I didn’t want to lose.”

Ceccon exulted at the end, taking the title three years after that near-miss in the Japanese capital.

“It’s a very strong emotion to be able to call myself this (a gold medallist). It’s one of the strongest there is.“To be here is a privilege because not everyone can be part of an Olympic final or to compete in something important like this. The emotion afterward, I know is very rare.”

It had been a long time coming.

“You’re here and you put everything into play. Knowing this can hurt you a lot mentally. It drains you physically, but it can destroy you mentally. I was obsessed with winning this medal and had I not won it, I wouldn’t have gone to bed happy.

“But now I go to bed and my mindset has to be to think I haven’t won anything because I have another event coming up and I want to focus on that.”

Xu looked ahead to winning gold next time out, saying:“I think the result is pretty good. I was leading the race, I respect my opponent for beating me at the last moment. It’s close to the gold medal. Perhaps I’m too old (age 28). Age is a big factor. There are many competitive swimmers. I can learn from them as well. I am able to get a gold medal next time.”

Murphy has now won a gold and two bronzes in the 100 back at three straight Games, the 29-year-old praising the two men who finished ahead of him while also applying perspective about his own outcome.

“I feel good about it,” he said. “That’s a really talented field. What I’ve improved on over the years is being able to frame things really quickly. Hitting the wall you’re hoping to win, and that was my initial emotion. 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.”

He agreed the rest of the world have closed the gap on the USA, saying:“Absolutely. The world is really talented, especially on the men’s side. The Europeans are incredible. It’s going to be exciting over the next couple of days, and we will get those touches at some point.”