Dugonjić won with a season best of 26.20, a hundredth of a second ahead of the British Adam Peaty. The Russian Oleg Kostin won bronze.

This is the 11th podium finish at a major competition for the 27-year-old and his third gold.

"What mattered to me in the final was to compete, the result was not important. I wanted to enjoy and beat as many competitors as I could - and had some luck for a change," he said.

This was the first time in his career that he defeated the British champion Peaty. "You should never give up. Even the best have a bad day every now and then," he noted.