Greek swimmer Apostolos Christou has won gold in the men's 100-meter backstroke at the European Aquatics Championships, edging Italian world champion Thomas Ceccon by just one-hundredth of a second in a dramatic finish.
Mr. Christou clocked 52.27 seconds to Mr. Ceccon's 52.28, with Russia's Pavel Samusenko taking bronze in 52.57.
Swimming from lane three, Mr. Christou posted a strong reaction time of 0.59 seconds and remained in contention throughout the race before the two rivals came down to the wire, separated by almost nothing over the final meters.
The electronic scoreboard confirmed Mr. Christou's victory by the narrowest possible margin.
France's Yohan Ndoye-Brouard finished fourth in 52.71, followed by Georgiy Iakovlev in 52.73, Ksawery Masiuk in 52.92, Mewen Tomac in 53.47 and Jack Skerry in 53.65.
The win adds to a growing list of major titles for Mr. Christou, an Olympiacos swimmer who has established himself among Europe's top backstroke specialists. He previously won European gold in both the 50- and 100-meter backstroke at the 2024 championships in Belgrade. At the Paris 2024 Olympics, he won silver in the 200-meter backstroke, becoming the first Greek swimmer to earn an Olympic medal in the pool.