The swimming talent won one bronze and two gold medals in the multi-day event.Continue reading
Within two days, Hungarians won five medals, including two gold, at the European Open Water Swimming Championships in Stari Grad, Croatia, marking an excellent start to the competition for the Hungarian team. The competition will end on Saturday, so there is still a chance for more medals.
On Wednesday, 21-year-old Viktória Mihályvári-Farkas won a gold medal in the 10-kilometer event at her first open water international competition, becoming the first Hungarian woman to win this Olympic event at the European Championships. She had previously achieved great success in the pool – she was fifth in the 400-meter medley at the 2021 Olympics and European champion in Rome in 2022 – but this was her first attempt at open water swimming.
I can hardly believe it, it was a very tough competition. I tried to learn from my mistakes at the World Cup in Ibiza. Now I can finally smile,”
she told M4 Sport.
In the same race, Bettina Fábián finished fifth, missing out on a medal due to a collision. Janka Juhász finished in 15th place.
In the men’s field, Kristóf Rasovszky won the 10 km with excellent tactics, ahead of France’s Logan Fontaine.
The Hungarian competitor thus won his first European Championship gold medal at this distance, even though he has long been at the forefront of the sport and boasts an Olympic silver medal and a world championship title.
Dávid Betlehem finished 10th this time, while Hunor Kovács-Seres finished in 20th place.
After crossing the finish line, Rasovszky told M4 Sport that his main focus was on maintaining his pace from the start and not getting boxed in by the other competitors. His and Betlehem’s goal was to stay in the lead from the very beginning.
On Thursday, the shorter 5 km distance followed, where Viktória Mihályvári-Farkas once again excelled, winning the silver medal with an amazing sprint, exploding past the field just 200 meters before the finish line. The Italian Ginevra Taddeucci won, who had finished behind her the day before.
Mihályvári-Farkas is the second Hungarian woman to stand on the podium in two individual events at the same European Championships – the last time this happened was in 1997, with Rita Kovács.
“It was a very tough race, much more tiring than the 10 km. I could not break away, hence I had to stay in the pack. But it feels great to be proud of myself again,” she said.
In the men’s event, Dávid Betlehem won silver and Kristóf Rasovszky bronze. The race was won by Italian star Gregorio Paltrinieri, while the third Hungarian competitor, former junior world champion Hunor Kovács-Seres, finished sixth. Due to windy weather, the course was shortened, but this did not prevent the Hungarians from finishing in the lead again.
I knew that only the really fast ones would be able to keep up the pace, and there were six of us left on the last lap. I could not keep up with Greg (Paltrinieri)’s sprint, but I am still happy with the silver,”
said Betlehem.
Currently, Hungary leads the medal table with five medals: two gold, two silver, and one bronze. The continental competition continues on Friday with the 3 km elimination sprint, and on Saturday, the team competition will close the program.
Via MTI, Featured image: MTI/Czeglédi Zsolt