updated 8:50 a.m. ET Aug. 16, 2004

ATHENS, Greece - Petria Thomas of Australia upset defending Olympic champion Inge de Bruijn in the 100-meter butterfly Sunday night, while American Jenny Thompson was once again denied an individual gold.

De Bruijn, the 30-year-old Dutch star, went out strong and was ahead of world-record pace at the turn. But she faded in the final 50, getting passed by both Thomas and Otylia Jedrzejczak of Poland.

Thomas won gold in 57.72 seconds, off the pace of de Bruijn’s world record swim (56.61) at the 2000 Sydney Games. But the Aussie wasn’t concerned with time, finally getting gold after taking silver in Atlanta eight years ago and bronze at Sydney.

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Jedrzejczak took silver in 57.84, while de Bruijn settled for bronze at 57.99.

The 31-year-old Thompson was denied her 12th Olympic medal when she touched the wall fifth in 58.72. She shares the career record for swimming medals — including eight golds from relays — with Mark Spitz, Matt Biondi and Carl Osburn.

Thompson helped the United States win a silver behind Australia in the 400 freestyle relay Saturday night. But her only individual medals in three previous Olympics are silver and bronze, both in the 100 freestyle, an event she failed to qualify for at these games.

Her last chance for individual gold comes in the 50 free, but she’s not considered a strong contender.

Slovakia’s Martina Moracova, the 2000 silver medalist in the 100 fly, was sixth this time.

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