Thomas Ceccon earned the one 100-meter backstroke accomplishment that has escaped him so far in his career on Monday.

The Italian, who holds the world record in the event, outlasted American Ryan Murphy and others to take gold inside Paris La Defense Arena with a time of 52.00 seconds.

Men's 100-Meter Backstroke Medal Results

Gold: Thomas Ceccon, Italy (52.00)

Silver: Jiayu Xu, China (52.32)

Bronze: Ryan Murphy, United States (52.39)

China's Jiayu Xu was leading the way halfway through the race, with Murphy and Ceccon coming in behind him. Down the final stretch, Xu and Murphy began losing steam as Ceccon closed the gap and began opening a slight lead.

In the end, only 0.39 seconds separated the three. The fight for bronze went right down to the wire as Murphy finished just 0.02 seconds ahead of Greece's Apostolos Christou.

Ceccon already won a bronze in Paris with the Italian 4x100-meter freestyle team. This is his first-ever individual medal at the Olympics.

The 23-year-old won the 100-meter backstroke world championship in 2022 where he set the current world record, and took second at worlds in 2023.

Ceccon's victory is the second gold medal for Italy in the Olympic swimming meet. Nicolo Martinenghi won the men's 100-meter breaststroke event on Sunday.