Paris Olympics: Sharon van Rouwendaal Makes Late Move For Historic 10k Gold Ahead of Johnson & Taddeucci
Sharon van Rouwendaal became the first marathon swimmer to win two Olympic golds after she made a late charge to overhaul Moesha Johnson and sprint home at Paris 2024.
The Netherlands athlete made her move as they came out of the Pont des Invalides for the last time and into the final stretch before putting in a burst through the finishing chute for victory in 2hrs 03mins 34.2secs.
Sharon Van Rouwendaal: Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia
No other swimmer – male or female – has twice won the Olympic open water title but on Thursday morning Van Rouwendaal added gold to the crown she lifted at Rio 2016.
With silver at Tokyo 2021, she also became the first athlete to claim three medals with one more than Thomas Lurz of Germany who’d won silver at London 2012 and bronze four years earlier in Beijing.
Johnson was 5.5secs adrift in 2:03:39.7 for silver with Taddeucci third in 2:03:42.8 followed by reigning champion Ana Cunha (2:04:15.7) and Bettina Fabian (2:04:16.9).
Drinking a bottle of coke, Van Rouwendaal showed reporters her scars of war, the swimmer covered in scratches from the cascading berry bush that adorns the bank of the River Seine which the women swam alongside on the second half of the circuit.
Of being the first athlete to go gold-silver-gold, she said: “Well, nobody’s done it. I think in Tokyo the water was too hot, I didn’t have energy at the end. I think it (winning the golden treble) was possible if it was different water.”
When the question was posed that she has now become the greatest marathon swimmer of all-time, Van Rouwendaal smiled and said: “Yes”.
Adaptability and ‘GOAT’ Van Roudendaal
There was increasing scrutiny in the build-up to the event because of the poor water quality which led to the cancellation of Tuesday’s training session.
After all the uncertainty over where the event would take place, 24 women took to the river from the Pont Alexandre III where they were to swim six laps of the 1.67km circuit, going out with the current before crossing the river and returning against it.
Johnson went straight to the head of the field before Italian duo Taddeucci and Giulia Gabbrielleschi took over the top two places as the field swam along the bankside.
Johnson went through the first lap in 19:02.2, 6.9secs ahead of Taddeucci followed by Gabbrielleschi, Van Rouwendaal, Caroline Jouisse, Cunha and Lisa Pou.
Moesha Johnson of Australia, silver, Sharon Van Rouwendaal of The Netherlands, gold, and Ginevra Taddeucci of Italy: Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia
The field had become fragmented with Van Rouwendaal moving to the head of the leading pack and she led through the end of lap two ahead of Johnson and the Italian pair with Cunha seventh and double world champion Leonie Beck back in 15th.
Johnson went past Van Rouwendaal at the end of the third to lead at halfway with the pair making a break at the start of the fourth where they were joined by Taddeucci, the trio going through at the end of the fourth and fifth laps in that order.
Johnson led until the Pont des Invalides when Van Rouwendaal went outside and across before coming home for victory.
Van Rouwendaal and Johnson are training partners in Magdeburg where they’re coached by Bernd Berkhahn. They are also close friends with the Australian describing the champion as “such a GOAT of the sport.”
The Dutchwoman had twice been sick in the morning, although she took on fluids and gels during the race, which underlined her ability to change tactics during the race.
“The first lap, energy-wise, was not good for me,” she said. “I had people on the way back on my hip. I wasn’t against the wall, I was against the current with people next to me, so I thought ‘this isn’t a good solution’. On the second lap, I thought I will take the front, I know where to go. Then I saw them all panicking when we crossed the river and that gave me a little kick thinking ‘look at everybody, we could swim great if we just play it smart with this line’.
“Then Mo took over and she was the one doing the pace that no one could follow. I was in her feet and we did a great job from there. I think they were super happy with the medal but I really wanted that gold.
“Tactics-wise, I had a plan to jump over, go behind the bridge and then jump back, and then go against the wall and then to the finish. But the finish was really long… I was like ‘where is that line?’”
It was a first individual medal at global level for Johnson who’d won team open water gold at the Doha worlds and bronze in Fukuoka in July 2023.
She said: “It’s a dream come true. Deep down you have dreams you dare to believe, and to actually pull it off and make the Olympic podium (is incredible). I moved across the world to train for this, made a lot of sacrifices, and it’s all paid off today. Any colour of medal is amazing, to get a silver is so special.”
It’s been a medal-laden few months for Taddeucci who added Olympic bronze to double silver in the 5k and team event at the European Championships in Belgrade.
She claimed her first open water medal with relay bronze at the 2022 worlds in Budapest before European 10k silver and mixed relay gold in Rome weeks later.
The 27-year-old reached the top of the podium with the mixed relay at the 2023 worlds in Fukuoka with Paris 2024 her first solo trip to the global rostrum.
She said: “I am super happy because this was totally unexpected. It’s been three years that I’ve been doing open water swimming. I’m happy because I worked a lot to qualify for the Olympics, because I didn’t qualify through the world championships.”
Preparation In The River Danube and Post-Race Palinka
Giulia Gabbrielleschi : Photo Courtesy: Giorhio Scala /Deepbluemedia
All 24 completed the race with some affected more by the current than others with Fabian of Hungary revealing she’d twice trained in the River Danube.
“It’s a way faster river so it was slower than that so it was a bit easier to swim in this and that’s why I was able to do such great turns at the buoys because I knew what’s going to happen there,” she said.
“That (overcoming the fear factor) was the purpose of swimming in the Danube so we wouldn’t get surprised because many girls were surprised we can see in the results. I almost knew what was going to happen here and I was mentally prepared for this. That’s why I was able to manage the finish so well.”
However, the 19-year-old was well-prepared for any eventualities that may arise because of anything lurking in the water.
She said: “We’ll see what the symptoms will be in a few days. I brought Hungarian Palinka (fruit brandy) and I am going to drink that and see if I am going to be okay or not.”
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love this! She did this exact same thing at the 2024 Worlds and I loved seeing her do it again to Olympic gold!