American swimmer wrote a letter to his parents when he was 8 years old saying he wanted to be an Olympian - now he's a gold medalist

Tom Pennington/Getty

American swimmer Ryan Murphy won the 100-meter backstroke on Monday night in Rio to pick up the first gold medal of his young career. Doing it also achieved a goal the 21-year-old set out for himself when he was a kid.

When Murphy was eight, he hand-wrote a letter to his parents to inform them that he had very serious Olympic aspirations.

 "I hope my swimming life continues and I become an Olympian when I grow up," Murphy wrote. "I hope I will break the world records. I want to be the best swimmer in the world."

After Murphy won on Monday night, NBC showed a picture of that same letter, which also included a self-portrait with a gold medal.

Eight-year-od Murphy may be disappointed to learn his 21-year-old self did not set a world record en route to his gold medal, but that gold he will take.