Miracle in the Seine: Hungarian gold and bronze in men’s 10 km swimming marathon at Paris Olympics

Kristóf Rasovszky claimed the Olympic gold with a flawless performance in the men’s 10 km swimming marathon in the Seine this morning. This marks Hungary’s fourth Olympic gold at the Paris Games. Dávid Betlehem finished third, securing the bronze.

Hungarians dominate swimming marathon in Paris

Kristóf Rasovszky led the race from start to finish. Prior to the event, swimmers were unable to test the river due to poor water quality. There was even uncertainty yesterday about whether the marathon swimming would proceed as planned.

Rasovszky in the Seine. Photo: MTI

“Today’s results were considered ‘very good’ according to the World Aquatics thresholds for E.coli and Enterococci on all four testing points across the marathon swimming course,” the organisers of the Olympic Games and swimming governing body World Aquatics said in a statement to Reuters yesterday.

The swimming marathon began at 7:30 am, and Rasovszky’s main competitor was the German swimmer Oliver Klemet. Klemet briefly took the lead during the fifth lap. Dávid Betlehem, another Hungarian swimmer aged just 21 and trained in Veszprém, clinched third place with a powerful final lap, finishing ahead of Domenico Acerenza.

The two Hungarian swimmers meet after crossing the finish line. Photo: MTI

Rasovszky won with a time of 1:50:52, while Betlehem clocked 1:51:09.

Risztov’s previous gold

Éva Risztov previously won gold in the 10 km swimming marathon at the 2012 London Olympics.

Originally a freestyle swimmer, Rasovszky switched to marathon swimming following Risztov’s success in 2016. In 2021, Rasovszky earned silver, but this February, he secured gold at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha.

Rasovszky said that training on the Danube before the Paris Olympics proved to be a big help.

Yesterday, 19-year-old Bettina Fábián finished fifth in the women’s 10 km marathon. Afterwards, she celebrated with pálinka, a traditional Hungarian spirit. You can view the video in THIS article.

These are triumphant times for Hungarian marathon swimming. Congratulations!

Here is a video of the last minutes of the finals:

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