Anna Olasz won the women’s Olympic 10k open water qualifier in Setubal, Portugal as 15 swimmers claimed their place in the event in Tokyo in August.
Olasz won silver in the 10k at last month’s European Championships in Budapest, the Hungarian woman pipped by Olympic champion Sharon van Rouwendaal in a sprint finish.
The 27-year-old took the win in 2:01.55.4 ahead of Spain’s Paola Ruiz Bravo (2:01.57.9) and Canada’s Kate Sanderson (2:01.58.4).
In fourth was Alice Dearing who will become the first black woman to swim for Britain at the Olympics.
Fifteen spots were available: the first nine were distributed to national federations with one spot per country.
The best Japanese automatically qualified as host of the Olympic Games and the remaining four spots were split among continents (1x Africa, Europe, Asia, America).
Olasz told fina.com:
“I came here in 2012 for the qualification but I came third and just missed the Olympic Games because I was the second Hungarian.
“But today is my second Olympic qualification and I definitely didn’t want to live the same experience as last time so I really wanted to win. I managed to do so, so I am extremely happy right now!
“This was probably one of the toughest races of my life. All 47 of us wanted to make the selection and there were another two really good girls from Hungary so I knew I had to be the best Hungarian.
“That was probably the hardest part. But nevertheless I was really confident and I had a really good training period behind me that backed me up.”
Silver medallist Ruiz said:
“I feel really good. It was a really fast race but I am very happy with the result. I love this place because the temperature is great and I like the swimsuit. We had a little bit of wind but I love the waves. I am so happy!”
“When I touched the pad, I couldn’t believe it! It was unreal and I was crying but overall very happy.”
RANKINGS AND CLASSIFIED ATHLETES
- Anna Olasz (HUN) – qualified
- Paula Ruiz Bravo (ESP) – qualified
- Kate Sanderson (CAN) – qualified
- Alice Dearing (GBR) – qualified
- Angelica Andre (POR) – qualified
- Maria De Valdes (ESP) – not qualified
- Cecilia Biagioli (ARG) – qualified
- Anastasia Kirpichnikova (RUS) – qualified
- Samantha Arevalo (ECU) – qualified
- Mafalda Rosa (POR) – not qualified
- Spela Perse (SLO) – qualified
- Yumi Kida (JPN) – qualified
- Danielle Huskisson (GBR) – not qualified
- Reka Rohacs (HUN) – not qualified
- Michelle Weber (RSA) – qualified
CONTINENTAL QUALIFICATION
- Paola Perez (VEN) – America
- Krystyna Panchishko (UKR) – Europe
- Li-Shan Chantal Liew (SGP) – Asia
- Souad Nefissa Cherouati (ALG) – Africa
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