Sharon van Rouwendaal of the Netherlands made a late surge to win gold in the women’s 10k marathon swimming at the Paris Olympics on Thursday.
Van Rouwendaal won in 2 hours, 03 minutes, and 34.2 seconds, with Australian Moesha Johnson in second place 5.5 seconds back and Italy’s Ginevra Taddeucci in third.
The event was held on the River Seine, with the Eiffel Tower in the background, after water pollution levels were certified safe for racing.
Van Rouwendaal, who won gold in Rio in 2016 and silver in Tokyo, moved past Johnson around a pilon under the Pont des Invalides bridge.
The 30-year-old Dutchwoman, who won the world championship in Budapest in 2022, never looked back as she surged to the finish.
It was a shattering defeat for Johnson, who had led since the midway point and was out front, with the top three comfortably clear of the field entering the last lap.
The decision to stage the race on the river provided a spectacular spectacle, but also generated issues for organizers.
Poor bacterial readings last week caused the triathlon to be severely interrupted, with all swim training sessions cancelled and the men’s individual event postponed by 24 hours until Wednesday.
Training for the 10k event had been canceled owing to high water pollution levels.