Gregorio Paltrinieri<\/strong> and Sharon van Rouwendaal<\/strong> continued their gold runs with victories in their respective 10k races – albeit in very different circumstances – at the European Aquatics Championships<\/strong> at Lake Lupa.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Paltrinieri executed his race to perfection, moving to the outside after Axel Reymond<\/strong> had drawn level with leader Florian Wellbrock<\/strong> before going ahead of the world champion.<\/p>\n

The Italian, who claimed his first individual international open water medal in the 5k on Wednesday, then went ahead and opened up a two-second lead at 9250.<\/p>\n

The Olympic 1500 free champion extended his lead to finish in 1:51.30.6, 11secs ahead of Marc-Antoine Olivier – as the pair repeated their one-two in the 5k – with Wellbrock moving through to third.<\/p>\n

It all adds up to the promise of a thrilling race in Tokyo with both Paltrinieri and Wellbrock taking on the double-pronged pool and open water programme and the Italian having beaten the German for the first time in the 10k.<\/p>\n

$\"Sharon$
Photo Courtesy: A.Kovacs\/deepbluemedia\/insidefoto<\/p><\/div>\n
Van Rouwendaal returned to the venue at Lupa Beach<\/strong> a day after winning the 5k on Wednesday<\/a> and appeared on course for a similarly-dominant victory.<\/p>\n
However, Anna Olasz<\/strong> spearheaded a charge by a four-strong group on the final kilometre which saw the Hungarian move on to the Netherlands swimmer’s shoulder before inching ahead.<\/p>\n
Van Rouwendaal though dug into her banks of mental strength accumulated through the years in pool and open water in a stroke-for-stroke battle down the final metres and touched in 1:59.12.7 for victory\u00a0 by 0.03.<\/p>\n
Olasz stopped the clock at 1:59.13 with Italian Olympic silver medallist Rachele Bruni<\/strong> edging third by 0.04 from Paula Ruiz Bravo.<\/strong><\/p>\n
Link to results<\/a><\/p>\n
Link to live stream<\/a><\/p>\n
Paltrinieri At The Double<\/h3>\n
Wellbrock went ahead at the 4000m mark and by the time the German reached 7250, he was 9.7secs ahead of Paltrinieri who was back down in 12th.<\/p>\n
Come the 8000m mark and he was still ahead with Kristof Rasovszky<\/strong>, Olivier and Olympic champion Ferry Weertman<\/strong> next and Paltrinieri moving up to sixth.<\/p>\n
$\"gregorio$
Photo Courtesy: deepbluemedia<\/p><\/div>\n
Rasovszky made his move and pulled level with Wellbrock with the pair then joined by Frenchman Axel Reymond<\/strong>, the German breathing to both his left and right and eyeballing his rivals.<\/p>\n
Reymond moved ahead only for Wellbrock to respond, the pair going stroke for stroke and eyeball for eyeball.<\/p>\n
The French swimmer surged out in front but then came Paltrinieri to his right – a tactic he employed in the shorter race – with the Italian going ahead.<\/p>\n
Come the final buoy and he had built up an clear lead, one he extended to at least 15m, as Wellbrock – who had dropped to seventh at one point – came back at Olivier.<\/p>\n
As Paltrinieri touched a sprint finish unfolded behind him with Olivier getting the touch in 1:51.41.7, 0.03secs ahead of Wellbrock (1:51.42.0) with Weertman fourth in 1:51.43.0.<\/p>\n
Paltrinieri attempted to raise his arms in victory but was not able to lift them quite as high as following his 5k victory, fatigue draining his face.<\/p>\n
He told Italian TV station RAI:<\/p>\n
\u201cMamma mia, today was much more effort than yesterday, I was tired, for sure.<\/p>\n
“I tried to do the first two laps, I was third from last or next to last, I was just trying to swim, then I started progressing slowly.<\/p>\n
“On the last lap I went, pushed and saw that I was leaving (them behind).<\/p>\n
“(It was a) beautiful race. I am super happy and super tired.<\/p>\n
“I saw the stars in the last 100 metres. All the strong (swimmers) were there, it was a really good test .”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
$\"Gregorio$
Photo Courtesy: Andrea Staccioli \/ Insidefoto \/ Deepbluemedia<\/p><\/div>\n
He added:<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really happy with all my results.<\/p>\n
“I came here just to do my best and prepare for the Olympics but I didn\u2019t expect anything in particular.<\/p>\n
“Two golds are really a maximum for me and I\u2019m really glad to be here and compete with these guys.<\/p>\n
“It\u2019s my first time in the 10km at the Europeans and it was amazing.<\/p>\n
“The best (marathon swimmers) are Europeans so it\u2019s really great that I could achieve this.<\/p>\n
“In the previous years I didn\u2019t have enough energy to push the last 1,000 metres like today.<\/p>\n
“Now (when) I got to the finish I felt I could speed up. I could travel throughout the race with the pack, didn\u2019t lose too much energy, I didn\u2019t have that much fighting and this put me to a great position to go ahead at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n
$\"F099062F-839C-4B89-8D0F-CDAE3DBD0097\"$
Marc-Antoine Olivier Photo Courtesy: FINA\/Doha 2020<\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>\n
The Italian’s delight contrasted with Olivier, who said:<\/p>\n
\u201cI came here for the gold as this is my distance so I\u2019m not fully satisfied with this medal.<\/p>\n
“The main goal is the Olympics so this race was a good experience on the way.<\/p>\n
“I think Paltrinieri didn\u2019t do any surprising thing, he was just well-prepared to swim in the wetsuit but that\u2019s a good lesson for us and we can use what we learned here for the Olympics.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
For Wellbrock the race presented learning opportunities ahead of Tokyo.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a tough race among good conditions with the wetsuits.<\/p>\n
“At the end it was a tough battle with Marc-Antoine, I came in the third position which is OK for the moment.<\/p>\n
“I think I can do a little bit better in Tokyo. I had problems to swim in the pack so I tried to swim in front for most of the race but at the end I felt a little bit tired.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Van Rouwendaal In Seventh Heaven<\/h3>\n
Van Rouwendaal won the 5-10k double – as well as team gold – at the last European Championships in Glasgow and she seemed certain to pick up her second title in as many days.<\/p>\n
$\"Olasz$
Anna Olasz: Photo Courtesy: deepbluemedia<\/p><\/div>\n
The Olympic champion held a 20m lead on the final lap but Olasz was having none of it and moved through the field to go into second although she was still 6.2secs behind with 750 to go as she led a group of four who obliterated the deficit.<\/p>\n
The Hungarian pulled alongside Van Rouwendaal – urged on by one of her coaching team who was waving a toy rabbit on the bank – before taking the slightest of leads.<\/p>\n
The Netherlands swimmer was breathing to her right, eyeballing Olasz, and drew on every ounce of determination to pull level in the final 25m, the pair going stroke for stroke before Van Rouwendaal just got the touch ahead of Olasz.<\/p>\n
There was a similarly-tight finish behind the pair with Bruni edging out Ruiz Bravo by 0.04 with the first four women separated by 2.8secs.<\/p>\n
Van Rouwendaal held up seven fingers to indicate the seven European titles she has won in Berlin, Glasgow and Budapest.<\/p>\n
$\"Van$
Sharon van Rouwendaal & Rachele Bruni: Photo Courtesy: Deepbluemedia<\/p><\/div>\n
Her golden double – and the differing manner with which the titles were clinched – comes a little more than nine months after she switched training base and coach from Philippe Lucas<\/strong> at Montpellier, France, to German national coach Bernd Berkhahn\u00a0<\/strong>in Magdeburg.<\/p>\n
Now she can look to Tokyo with confidence, a swimmer in a far better place than the one who secured Olympic qualification by claiming 10th spot at the 2019 worlds, just 0.01 ahead of Aurelie Muller,<\/strong> then the world champion.<\/p>\n
For Van Rouwendaal, it offered her a chance to educate herself and to assess how she could control and influence the race.<\/p>\n
She said:<\/p>\n
\u201cToday my goal was to learn several things during the race and not just swim to win or get to the podium.<\/p>\n
“It was more about to see what my rivals could do, tiring them, leading the pack, I did a lot of changing of gears but that cost a lot of energy.<\/p>\n
“So even if I was in front I still wasn\u2019t sure I could win the race.<\/p>\n
“I got pretty tired of playing this way. I guess everybody was dead at the end, so was I, perhaps I did a bit too much playing.<\/p>\n
“In the past when I left the others, I really left and never played, today that was the price of testing the others and myself.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Van Rouwendaal posted to social media:<\/p>\n
\n
\n
Double European Champion! Couldn't be happier! \ud83e\udd81\ud83c\udfca\u200d\u2640\ufe0f #hardworkpaysoffs<\/a> #europeanchampionships<\/a>
\u2022
Career total at European Championships: \ud83e\udd47\ud83e\udd47\ud83e\udd47\ud83e\udd47\ud83e\udd47\ud83e\udd47\ud83e\udd47
\u2022
\ud83d\udcf7: La Presse Alfredo Falcone pic.twitter.com\/qT66nyuU1g<\/a><\/p>\n
— Sharon v Rouwendaal (@SvRouwendaal) May 13, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n