PARIS (AP) — Kristóf Rasovszky of Hungary wrapped up Olympic swimming events in the Seine River by winning the men’s 10-kilometer marathon race Friday.
Battling strong currents on a sunny, breezy morning, Rasovszky set the pace most of the race and held off Germany’s Oliver Klemet in an all-out sprint to the finish. The winner touched in 1 hour, 50 minutes, 52.7 seconds, with Klemet 2.1 seconds behind.
Rasovszky settled for silver in this event at the Tokyo Games. Now, he’s got a gold.
The bronze went to another Hungarian, David Betlehem, who expressed strong objections to competing in the long-polluted Seine. He slapped the finishing pad just six-tenths of a second ahead of Italy’s Domenico Acerenza.
Betlehem and Rasovszky hugged jubilantly, celebrating a pair of medals for their homeland.
The defending Olympic champion, Florian Wellbrock of Germany, fell away from the lead pack on the final lap and finished eighth.
With the closing ceremony just two days away, the Seine finale was sure to be hailed as a triumph by Paris organizers after massive efforts to clean up a river where swimming had been largely banned for more than century.
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