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The Netherlands’ Sharon van Rouwendaal dedicated her gold medal in the women’s 10km marathon swim to her pet dog who died earlier this year.<\/b><\/p>\n
Van Rouwendaal said her “world stopped” when her dog Rio, named after the Olympic gold she won in Brazil in 2016, died in May.<\/p>\n
“I didn’t care about swimming for three weeks, he was my little baby,” she said after winning gold in Paris.<\/p>\n
Van Rouwendaal had to settle for silver at Tokyo in 2021 after missing out on gold by an agonising 0.9 seconds.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, she overtook Australia’s Moesha Johnson in the final lap to snatch victory in two hours three minutes 34.2 seconds.<\/p>\n
After emerging triumphant from the River Seine, Van Rouwendaal pointed to and kissed a tattoo of Rio’s paw print on her wrist.<\/p>\n
“He needed a little operation for his lungs so I gave it to him in the hope we could live in the Netherlands after the Olympics together in my house with a garden. He had complications after the surgery and he died,” she explained.<\/p>\n
“I was like, ‘let’s try it and I’ll swim for him with my whole heart’. I did it, I won for him.”<\/p>\n
Johnson finished 5.5 seconds behind to take silver and Ginevra Taddeucci of Italy claimed bronze, while Great Britain’s Leah Crisp finished 20th.<\/p>\n
The marathon swimming familiarisation had previously been cancelled after tests showed levels of bacteria in the water had dropped below the required standard.<\/p>\n
However, Wednesday’s test went ahead before the 10km race on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The water quality of the Seine had been a major talking point before and during Paris 2024, with the men’s triathlon postponed<\/a> by a day because of the low water quality.<\/p>\n The men’s marathon swim is due to take place on Friday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n