Her last Olympic run in Brazil had led to a finish in 14th, but now in Tokyo she finished only one spot away from the podium.Continue reading
Hungary’s Kristóf Rasovszky finished second in Tokyo’s men’s marathon swimming 10 kilometer final. Rasovszky followed 25.3 seconds behind Germany’s Florian Wellbrock gold medal time of 1:48:33.7.
After almost two hours of swimming a distance which many would consider impossible, Kristóf Rasovszky overcame the 10km track of the Odaiba Marine Park in Tokyo with a time of 1:48:59.0. This is the Hungarian marathon swimmers first Olympic medal, the sixth silver for Hungary this year.
Wellbrock had taken the lead within the first 10 seconds of the race, with Rasovszky climbing up from fifth to third at the 1.4 kilometer mark, followed by France’s Marc-Antoine Olivier.
Kristóf Rasovszky in the men’s 10 kilometer swimming marathon at the Tokyo Olympics (Photo: Zsolt Czeglédi/MTI)
Near the end of the race the leading pack had been made clear, and after having swam 7.2 kilometers Rasovszky was pressing forth in second. Eventually Wellbrock broke away from the group followed by Rasovszky, with Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri able to keep up behind the Hungarian.
Wellbrock was noticeably ahead of everyone, but the battle for second had broken into action. Paltrinieri continuously tried to advance ahead of Rasovszky, but the Hungarian swimmer maintained his lead until the very end, reaching the finish 1.1 second sooner.
Photo: Zsolt Czeglédi/MTI
After his excellent swim, Rasovszky happily told Nemzeti Sport that he is proud to have maintained his lead against Paltrinieri’s advances, a noticeably challenging task. He added that Wellbrock’s gold medal accomplishment was practically superhuman.
The Hungarian athlete even sent a message to Áron Szilágyi, who won Hungary’s first gold in Tokyo with his victory in men’s individual saber fencing.
I am very happy. I moved in to épée fencer Gergely Siklósi’s place with the other fencers in the Olympic village, where Áron Szilágyi told me that their apartment is one with medals, so I have to contribute with at least a silver. He was right. Áron, here is my silver medal!”
Rasovszky hugs marathon swimmer Anna Olasz before the awards ceremony of the men’s 10km swimming finals (Photo: Zsolt Czeglédi/MTI)
In the featured photo, Kristóf Rasovszky celebrates his silver medal finish after competing in Tokyo’s 10km men’s swimming marathon. Featured photo by Zsolt Czeglédi/MTI