Russia's Larisa Ilchenko proved her dominance in open water event here Wednesday by easily snatching the inaugural 10-kilometer marathon gold at the Beijing Olympic Games.
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| Russia's Ilchenko snatches first Olympic 10KM marathon swimming gold [Xinhua] |
Ilchenko, who was often seen sitting behind the leaders and making a move in the last kilometer in world championships, repeated the "trick" at the Olympics and successfully took the gold away from British swimmers Cassandra Patten and Keri-Anne Payne.
The two British swimmers led the race shoulder to shoulder during most part of the race with Ilchenko following behind. But the Ilchenko speeded up in the last 400 meter and surpassed the two British to finish the race first in one hour 59 minutes and 27.7 seconds.
Payne finished second in 1:59.29.2 and world championships silver medalist Patten came third in 1:59:31.0.
Ilchenko has dominated open water swimming since 2004, winning five consecutive 5km world championships and three consecutive 10km races. She is known for her ability to win in all water conditions and temperatures.
"It was a tough race. I was trying to convince myself that it was a training test. It took a lot of willpower to convince myself. But I did it," Ilchenko said after the race.
Questioned whether her tactic of coming behind is unfair to other swimmers, Ilchenko said "it doesn't bother me in the least."
"It's a competition after all and the best athlete wins. How can I just stop and let somebody else win? How can I let other girls take my medal?" said she. "I actually worked as hard as anybody else and I don't think it's a question at all."
British Payne was apparently elated with a silver medal. She was stung in the mouth by a jellyfish while leading the 10km open water event at the 2007 World Championships in Melbourne, Australia. She was forced to stop for a gel drink and eventually finished 11th.
"It has not sunk in at all, but I'm so pleased to have a silver medal. I might have a little cry later," she Payne.
But her teammate Patten was in tears when facing the media one hour after the race, seemingly still angry at the confrontation with Germany's Angela Maurer at the conclusion of the race.
"Some things do happen in races and I think a lot of it is unsportsmanlike. But after races emotions can run high. That's all I want to say about it. I don't want to sit and slag anybody else off. At the end of the day I have the medal," she said.