Thomas Ceccon said he fulfilled a childhood "dream" by giving Italy their second swimming gold of the Paris Olympics with a thrilling victory in the men's 100m backstroke on Monday. Ceccon won with a time of 52.00 seconds, with China's Xu Jiayu 0.32sec behind for silver and Ryan Murphy of the USA in bronze.

The Italian, who was fourth in Tokyo, delivered Italy more joy following Nicolo Martinenghi's triumph in the 100m breaststroke on Sunday. The 23-year-old Ceccon, who won the world championship in 100m in Budapest in 2022, picked up his second medal of the week after bronze in the 4x100m free relay.