PARIS, France — When Thomas Ceccon won the men's 100 backstroke on Thursday, the internet was abuzz, but it wasn't because it gave Italy its second gold in as many nights at La Defense Arena.
The 23-year-old Ceccon helped Team Italy win the bronze at the men's 4x100-meter freestyle relay on Tuesday before winning gold himself. After his gold medal performance, people watching the thrilling race took to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter and TikTok to react to the swimmer's physique, causing his name to skyrocket to the top of Google Trends on Friday.
"The world isn't talking enough about this Italian gold medalist swimmer 'Thomas Ceccon' aka The Shark!!," one fan posted.
"Hottest swimmer at #Olympics is definitely 🇮🇹 Italy's #ThomasCeccon," another person posted.
One person even compared him to Michelangelo's "David" sculpture.
Another person said "no wonder he won that jawline probably split the water in half when he dove in."
Even Italian luxury fashion house Armani jumped into the conversation, congratulating him for his win. Who knows, maybe they'll be calling with some modeling offers?
This was Thomas' first gold medal and the first Olympic gold medal for Italy in this event. He's the world record holder in the long course 100m backstroke and is also the Italian record holder for the 50m butterfly and 50m backstroke. He's originally from Thiene, Italy, which is about 50 miles west of Venice.
He comes from a line of athletes. According to Italian newspaper Il Messaggero, his father, Loris Ceccon, was a pentathlete in the army, according to the outlet, and his mother, Gioia, is an Italian champion in skating.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
