PARIS: Hungary's Kristof Rasovszky won the men's 10km marathon swimming gold at the Olympics on Friday, holding off German silver medallist Oliver Klemet in a gruelling slog along the final length of the Seine River.
There was more medal joy for Hungary as David Betlehem claimed bronze for the nation.
Four swimmers failed to finish, while Sweden's Victor Johansson elected not to start, citing health concerns about the water quality.
Rasovszky, however, was not to be denied, three years after being beaten for the gold at Tokyo by another German in Florian Wellbrock.
The 27-year-old world champion crossed the finish in one hour, 50 minutes and 52.7 seconds, 2.1 seconds ahead of Klemet.
While some swimmers had expressed misgivings about the Seine over the water quality and its strong currents, Rasovsky was all-in, having trained in the Danube river at home in Hungary.
"I really wanted to swim here and not in the rowing venue," he told reporters of the contingency venue.
"I thought it was going to be a good race for me swimming in the Seine."
The women's 10km event was won by Sharon van Rouwendaal on Thursday. The Dutch woman also turned a silver in Tokyo to gold in Paris.
Rasovszky said he took Rouwendaal's win as a sign.
"Yesterday when I saw Sharon winning, I was thinking maybe it's time for me because she was second at Tokyo and also won at the Doha (world championships)," he said.
DETERMINED
Wellbrock finished eighth in his title defence after going out quickly and rounding the first lap in front.
The German was soon overhauled by Rasovszky who broke away from a group of chasers early in the second lap.
Wellbrock pushed again to nudge in front in the fourth lap but the determined Rasovszky snatched back the lead and held it to the finish.
While Wellbrock flagged, his teammate Klemet burst from the chasing pack to join Rasovszky in a two-man breakaway as they raced down-river in the last lap.
Two of the chasers caught up as they returned up-stream for the final length but there was no stopping Rasovszky.
He was joined on the podium by Betlehem who put in a incredible late surge to deny Italian Domenico Acerenza the bronze by 0.6 seconds.
The event went ahead as scheduled with water quality deemed compliant from testing.
Tunisian swimmer Ahmed Jaouadi did not start after the nation's Olympic Committee withdrew him from the race on Thursday. The committee declined to comment when contacted by Reuters on Friday.
Games organisers will nonetheless be relieved that the swimming events in the Seine have concluded after water quality proved a headache initially.
The men's triathlon race was postponed by 24 hours and familiarisation sessions for the athletes in the river were cancelled.
French authorities spent 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion) on upgrading the city's sewage systems, promising the river would be clean for residents to swim in by next summer. - REUTERS