Australia’s Moesha Johnson splashed through the polluted waters of the Seine to win a flawless silver medal in the Olympic 10km marathon swim.
The 26-year-old swimmer from Tweed Heads, New South Wales, was eventually edged out in a thrilling three-woman open water race to the finish by Dutch great Sharon van Rouwendaal, who regained the crown she won in Rio eight years ago.
For Germany-based Johnson, who had also finished sixth in the 1500m final in the pool, silver gloriously made up for his failure to medal at the world championships in Doha earlier this year.
Johnson made the most progress on a warm morning with a committed performance but was never able to shake off the attentions of her training partner van Rouwendaal, who is regarded as the “greatest of all time” in women’s open water swimming after so many major titles.
In the penultimate lap, the race had been decided by just three swimmers: Johnson, world champion van Rouwendaal and Italian Ginevra Taddeucci, who separated themselves from the rest of the 24 competitors.
But just before the final push towards the finishing funnel leading beneath the gilded Pont Alexandre III, the 30-year-old van Rouwendaal began to pull away from the Australian in the final 300 metres and was five seconds clear as she reached the finishing platform in two hours, three minutes and 34.2 seconds.
Johnson finished in 2:03.39.7, while Taddeucci took bronze in 2:03.42.8. Australia’s other favourite, Chelsea Gubecka, had to fight her way to 14th place in 2:06.17.8.
The two-hour marathon on the Seine had been given the go-ahead at 7.30am on Thursday, and the go-ahead was given for swimming, with huge crowds gathering on both banks to watch a brilliant spectacle.
Australia’s Moesha Johnson splashed through the polluted waters of the Seine to win a flawless silver medal in the Olympic 10km swim race.
Johnson was eventually edged out in a thrilling three-woman open water race to the finish line by Dutch great Sharon van Rouwendaal, who regained the crown she won in Rio eight years ago.
Johnson led the way for most of the race on a warm morning with a committed performance, but was never able to shake off the attentions of his training partner van Rouwendaal.