Hungary's Kristof Rasovszky bites down on his gold medal during the ceremony at the end of marathon swimming men's 10km competition at the Paris Olympics, on Aug. 9.Vadim Ghirda/The Associated Press
There were plenty of concerns about swimming in the long-polluted Seine River.
When the final gold medal was handed out Friday, everyone seemed thrilled to have taken a nearly two-hour dip in the iconic waterway.
Kristof Rasovszky of Hungary wrapped up Olympic events in the Seine by winning the men’s 10-kilometer marathon race, a triumph for organizers who undertook a massive project to clean up a river where swimming had been banned for nearly a decade because of toxic water.
“The only reason I wanted to do open water was because I wanted a photo next to the Eiffel Tower,” quipped Irish star Daniel Wiffen, who competed in an open water event for the first time in his career.
Indeed, the course through the heart of one of the world’s most glamorous capitals provided a backdrop that won’t soon be forgotten by anyone who experienced it.
The Eiffel Tower dominated the skyline. The gold-domed Invalides glimmered in the morning sun on a breezy morning. The ornate Pont Alexander III provided an overlook of the starting buoy and finishing chute.
Thousands of fans lined both sides, cheering on swimmers who were almost close enough to touch on the return leg of each 1.67-kilometre (1-mile) lap as they hugged the shoreline to avoid the river’s current as much as possible.
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, which is sure to set up a raucous celebration when he returns to Hungary.
“I don’t think I’m ready for it,” he said, beaming. “But let it come.”
The bronze went to another Hungarian, David Betlehem, who was one of the most vocal opponents of competing in the Seine. He slapped the finishing pad just six-tenths of a second ahead of Italy’s Domenico Acerenza.
The Hungarians were able to train in the Danube River back home, giving them a good feel for the strong current they faced in the Seine.
“It was a really good preparation for how to swim in a river and made a really good advantage for us,” Rasovszky said.
In retrospect, Betlehem has no complains about the water quality, though he planned to take a swig of Palinka – a traditional fruit brandy from his homeland – to help ward off any potential health problems.
“I didn’t want to do it because of the water quality,” he said. “But after the women’s race, like nobody was sick. My girlfriend swam and she was OK, So I was like, `OK, nobody will care about the water quality now. We need to race. We need to win a medal.”' Make it two medals for Hungary.
Betlehem and Rasovszky rolled around in the water that was the focus of so much attention, hugging jubilantly after it was over.
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, holding Olympic events in the Seine is a call that is sure to be hailed as worthy of a gold medal by Paris organizers.
Concerns about bacteria levels lingered into the Paris Games and it will be interesting to see in the days to come if any athletes become sick.
Wiffen, winner of the 800-meter freestyle during competition at the pool, said he had no concerns after learning of testing done a few hours before the race to measure levels of fecal bacteria, including E. coli.
“The E. coli in the river right now is lower than it would be in a swimming pool,” said Wiffen, who finished nearly 6 1/2 minutes behind the winner in 18th place. “People are making up this whole thing about the river is not clean. It’s completely untrue. It’s very clean.”
There were some scheduling disruptions for the triathlon races and reports of athletes falling ill. Bacteria levels were deemed unsafe as recently as Tuesday when an open water training session was cancelled.
But sunny weather and a lack of rain brought the readings within acceptable levels, officials said.
In perhaps the ultimate tribute to the cleanup efforts, women’s marathon winner Sharon van Rouwendaal of the Netherlands said she took several gulps of river water during her victory Thursday, declaring it cold and refreshing.
Rasovszky joked that van Rouwendaal wasn’t the other athlete who sipped from Seine.
“I wasn’t worried about it,” Rasovszky said, smiling. “One of the Hungarian triathletes said after his race that he drank a lot from the Seine, so it’s going to be much more cleaner for open water. So he did a really good job.”
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