Italy's Thomas Ceccon wins Olympic men's 100m backstroke gold

Thomas Ceccon delivered Italy their second swimming gold of the Paris Games 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, taking the silver, and Ryan Murphy of the USA in bronze.

Ceccon, who was fourth in Tokyo, delivered Italy more joy following on from Nicolo Martinenghi's triumph in the 100m breaststroke on Sunday.

The 23-year-old Ceccon, who won the world championship in 100m back in Budapest in 2022, picked up his second medal of the week after bronze in the 4x100m free relay.

For China's Xu it was a frustrating silver medal, having also finished second in the same event in Rio in 2016.

Murphy, the 29-year-old from Chicago who won three golds in Rio in 2016 including in the 100m backstroke, was hoping to restore his dominance in the event but had to settle for bronze.

He also finished with bronze in the event in Tokyo.