His stature and model looks, abs that made internet users search for him closely.

Thomas Ceccon has so far two medals at the Olympics, but that seems like a detail for social networks raving about the 23-year-old Italian swimmer.

The occasion was prompted by a slight move by Cecon, who revealed his abs during the medal ceremony for the 4×100 freestyle relay on Saturday, where Italy came in third.

This is the sluttiest thing a man can do pic.twitter.com/CX1aV2RDk7

— Meech (@MediumSizeMeech) July 29, 2024

It didn’t take many on TikTok to start talking about the team “as if they were models,” People writes.

Two days later, on Monday, Cekon won his first gold in the 100-meter backstroke (in the same race, Apostolos Christou was fourth, missing out on bronze by two hundredths of a second).

I'm not one for being swayed by the beauty of men or women. But, then, there's Italian gold medallist swimmer Thomas Ceccon. #ParisOlympics2024 pic.twitter.com/uyPg2BcYYo

— ClareFDoo (@missdaisyfdoo) July 29, 2024

New video on TikTok, this time with Checon celebrating by clapping his hands in the water for his first place finish.

They call him “Shark”, Italian TV RAI reports, for his speed in the water, his determination and his height – at 1.97 it’s hard not to excel in the pool.

Born in 2001 in Tiene, Vicenza, he is the son of athletes. His father is a pentathlete and his mother a roller skating champion.

As a child Thomas played tennis and has excelled, in addition to the backstroke, in freestyle and butterfly.

Speaking to RAI after winning gold, Checon said he could not have been happier.

It had been his dream since he was 15 to win at the Olympics, he said. “Relax, one thing at a time,” his coach replied at the time. It is, he said, something different from the world championships, at the Olympics, which is every four years, “if you make one mistake you lose everything.”

His swimming career began in 2016 when he was first called up by Italy’s national youth team for Euro Juniors. Two years later, at the Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, he won his first international medals.

In 2020 he improved the Italian record in the 100 m backstroke. The following year, at the Tokyo Olympics, he managed to win a silver (4×100 freestyle) and a bronze (men’s 4×100 medley).

He went on to medal at the 2022 World Championships in Budapest, where he set a new world record in the 100m backstroke and a national record in the 50m backstroke and 50m butterfly, with four golds and two silvers at the European Championships in Rome, as well as three at the World Championships in Fukuoka (one gold and two silvers).

Now with an Olympic medal in his trophy case, Checon has fulfilled his dream. At 23, he can look forward to many years of success in the pools, but also on social media.