Italian swimmer Nicolò Martinenghi is the new Olympic 100m breaststroke champion! Clocking a 59.03 in the finals at the Paris La Defense Arena, he bested Brit favorite Adam Peaty and American star Nic Fink, both of whom tied for the second spot with 59.05. And with that, the 24-year-old trashed Adam Peaty’s plan to be the second after Michael Phelps to win in this event at three consecutive games by just 0.02 seconds!

1999-born Martinenghi began his international swimming career in 2015. But despite his exceptional skills, he missed out on qualifying for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. However, at the Tokyo Games, he redeemed himself with two bronze spots. And now, on the Paris grounds, he has defeated the gold-medal favorites by rising to the occasion on D-day. So, let’s get to know more about this swimming sensation.

How Nicolò Martinenghi surprised everyone at the Paris Olympics

By the 50m mark, the breaststroke race-winning favorite seemed to be Qin Haiyang, who was the first to touch the wall and turned back with finesse in nearly 27 seconds. However, it appeared that his momentum gradually fizzled while the Italian Martinenghi charged up in place. Thus, the stunning results followed! In fact, courtesy of Martinenghi, his nation, Italy, has opened its gold account at the 33rd Olympic Games, with a scintillating 7th in its bag!

Notably, the top three finale positions seemed quite different from the semi-final 1 and heat rounds that took place previously. In the former, Adam Peaty was much quicker than today, sealing his top spot on the podium with a spectacular 58.86. And that made his ‘three-peat’ dream look invincible! Interestingly, even Fink clinched silver with a 59.16, while Nicolò Martinenghi followed third, behind them.

Similar was the case in heat 4 of the 100m breaststroke on July 27, when Peaty eclipsed Martinenghi’s figures. But the Italiano swam in the winning lane in the finals. And with this mighty accolade to his name, he appears to be a dominant challenger to watch out for in this category henceforth.

Know all about Martinenghi’s past achievements and records

Well, most people would be surprised to know that Martinenghi, as a child, was someone who wished to steer clear of the water. He hated it. However, by means of challenging his older brother, he took to the sport, and it blossomed into a passion. But for them, there was no stopping him. He burst out onto the international scene first at the European Youth Olympic Festival and returned home with 3 golds. Clearly indicating his strengths, 2 of them were breaststroke events.

By 2017, he was already competing with veterans. Particularly at the Sette Colli Trophy in Rome, where he was second behind the Great Britain maestro Adam Peaty. The same year, at the Junior World Championships, he announced his fierceness in the sport, setting the Italian record at 59.01. Battling a pubic bone fracture, he made his Olympic debut in Tokyo. It seems that Nicolò Martinenghi has mastered the art of performing in high-pressure situations, as in Tokyo, he lowered his own national record to 58.28. And then he won bronzes in both the 4x100m medley relay and the 100m breaststroke.

Later, at the 2022 World Championships, Martinenghi hit the ball out of the park once again. In Adam Peaty’s absence from the competition, he seized the day to bag the 100m breaststroke gold. What’s more? He once again eclipsed his own timing, setting the Italian record at 58.26. And now he smells sweet success by experiencing Olympic glory in all its might. What do you think of his incredible form? Let us know below.