Rasovszky holds off Olivier challenge to win 10km open water gold in Doha

Doha : Hungary’s Kristof Rasovszky held off a charging Marc-Antoine Olivier of France on the final lap of the men’s 10km to win the gold medal at 1:48:21.2 while Olivier won the silver at 1:48:23.6.

Rasovszky, having already qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games from his Worlds silver last year, had the monkey off his back on Sunday morning at the World Aquatics Championships – Doha 2024 in the old Doha Port as he was getting in valuable race practice against some of the best in the world six months before the big race in Paris later this year.

 “I wanted the gold, so I wasn’t coming here just to swim this again and again,” Rasovszky said. “I was talking with my wife and realized that in 10k I only got silver medals until now, it was silver or nothing for me in this distance. So I wanted to win something different this time.”

This is Olivier’s first medal at the World Aquatics Championships since winning silver in the 10km at the 2019 Gwangju Worlds.

“There was a lot of pressure because the Olympic Games are happening in my country, so before the race I wanted to be sure that I would qualify,” Olivier said.

“Today I realized that I could win a medal, too, so I’m double as happy. I was extra motivated because I knew that all my family and friends can come to see me participate in Paris. It gave me more energy.”

Great Britain’s Hector Pardoe won a surprising bronze medal at 1:48:29.2 for the first major medal of his career. Pardoe previously won a bronze in the 5km at the 2016 World Juniors as he improved his 10th place finish from the World Championships in Fukuoka last year.

 “I think I thrive in conditions like this,” Pardoe said.

Qualifying spots were on the line for the 10K today as Olivier officially qualified for his third Olympics today at age 27, and Pardoe qualified for his second Games at age 22.

“My first Olympic experience in Tokyo was kind of a bad one and I had to learn a lot about my confidence,” Pardoe said.

“To just come here, win a medal and qualify for my second Olympic Games and hopefully continue down the path of redemption is really exciting."
China's as Wang Zongyuan and Long Daoyi successfully defended their men's 3m synchro title in Doha, yesterday.
The pair totalled 442.41, finishing almost 60 points clear of their rivals as they won in emphatic fashion.

Wang, who won Olympic gold with Xie Siyi, claimed his seventh world crown after he completed the individual and synchro 3m double in Fukuoka last July.

Giovanni Tocci and Lorenzo Marsaglia of Italy took silver with 384.24 and secured the first of four Paris 2024 Olympic quota places on offer at the event with Wang and Long having done so last year.

Spain's Adrian Abadia and Nicolas Garcia also obtained an Olympic quota after scoring 383.28 to claim bronze.

Rodrigo Diego and Osmar Olvera were just four-hundredths of a point back in fourth for Mexico with Ukraine's Oleg Kolodiy and Danylo Konovalov also securing Olympic quota berths in sixth place.

Last year's runners-up Jack Laugher and Anthony Harding were in third place after five dives, but their last effort was well short of their best and they had to settle for fifth. The British pair had already obtained a Olympic quota place.
 

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