Hungarian Bronze Medal at the European Aquatics Championships in Belgrade

Dávid Betlehem won the bronze medal in the 10 km open water swimming race at the European Aquatics Championships in Belgrade, Serbia. The 20-year-old Hungarian swimmer finished third in the Olympic event in a huge battle, earning the first individual podium finish of his career at an adult world competition.

The 29 competitors had to complete six laps of 1.67 kilometers each in the Serbian capital. The rain arrived for the men’s competition and Betlehem, like in Rome 2022, took the lead from the start and set a tremendous pace.

At the start of the third lap, the two world-class swimmers, reigning world champion Kristóf Rasovszky and 2022 world champion Gregorio Paltrinieri from Italy, took the lead. At the halfway point, the leading group of Hungarians, Italians, and French formed. The six swimmers swam with less than five seconds between them.

During the last lap, the three Italians led by Gregorio Paltrinieri tried to “shake off” the field, but almost everyone, including the two Hungarians, took the gauntlet, resulting in a big fight 1,000 meters before the finish.

The 29-year-old Italian Gregorio Paltrinieri triumphed, while the rest of the field finished more than 20 seconds behind him. Four of them crossed the finish line practically at the same time, hence the

photo finish brought the decision. Dávid Betlehem officially finished third a few minutes later, while Kristóf Rasovszky was ninth.

“I am very happy to have won this bronze. I am happy to be on the podium after all the fourth and fifth places,” Dávid Bethlehem told M4 Sport. He added that he thought he was in the lead for a long time on the last lap, as Paltrinieri, who was swimming on the other track, was blocked by the judges’ boat and Bethlehem completely lost sight of him.

Ninth-placed Kristóf Rasovszky pointed out that some people, especially those who had not qualified for the Olympics, had behaved in an extremely unsportsmanlike manner during the race and had done everything they could to “make sure the race was not clean.” “I hope that those who will be at the Olympics know what fair play is and I hope that life will give something back to me,” added the five-time Olympic silver medalist, who noted that he was also medal-less at the continental event before the 2021 Tokyo Games, so “it is not the end of the world.”

Via MTI; Featured image via Facebook/Magyar Úszó Szövetség – Magyar úszóválogatott