TOKYO -- Florian Welbrock, Germany added another gold medal to his bronze in marathon swimming. He won the men's 10-kilometer race at Tokyo Bay during the Summer Olympics.Wellbrock led the race from the beginning, was in front for most of the race and won the Olympic marathon swimming gold medal by the largest margin ever recorded.Kristof Rasovszky from Hungary said that "Florian was unbeatable" and finished 25 seconds behind the silver medalist. "I tried my best to be the best among the rest."Even though the race started at 6:30 am, it was already 81 degrees with 80% humidity, making it feel close to 90 degrees. The heat was not tempered by clouds, unlike the women's race.The reigning world champion was not bothered by it.In the men's marathon swimming, Florian Wellbrock of Germany finished 25.3 seconds faster than Kristof Rasovsky (Hungary), who was silver medallist. Al Bello/Getty ImagesWellbrock, 23, said that it was "a little bit unbelievable". "The first seven kilometers of this race felt very easy. "My competitors had to work hard behind me."David Aubry, a Frenchman who was suffering from heat exhaustion, dropped out after only 3 km and was then carried off the deck by a stretcher. According to French officials, a shoulder injury had hampered his preparation for the race and his fitness was not sufficient to handle the heat or Wellbrock's pace.After receiving treatment at the medical facility, Aubry felt better.Rasovszky stated that it was extremely hot. "I tried to get my refresher every lap, but I was unable to do it."After being elbowed in his right eye, Hector Pardoe from Britain also failed to finish. After being pushed in the right eye, his goggles were broken and he was left with a severe gash and swelling.Pardoe stated that his goggles had been completely ripped off, and that he couldn't see anything. It was so bad that I didn't know how terrible it was. It was blurry in my eyes."Wellbrock won the final lap by 25.3 seconds. He finished in 1 hour 48 minutes, 33.7 secs. This was the biggest margin of victory in Olympic marathon swimming history, added to the 2008 Beijing Games program.ResultsWellbrock was also awarded a bronze medal in the 1,500-meter freestyle, which took place on the final day of swimming at the pool.Rasovsky was able to finish in 1:48.59.0 while Gregorio Palatrinieri, an Italian swimmer, took home the bronze medal in 1:49.01.1. Paltrinieri, who was silver medalist at the 800 freestyle at pool, made a remarkable comeback after a bout with mononucleosis just before the games.After Ous Mellouli from Tunisia, Wellbrock was followed by Paltrinieri and Paltrinieri as the second and third swimming champions in open water and pool at the Olympics.Ferry Weertman, the Dutch Olympic marathon champion, finished seventh. American Jordan Wilimovsky came in 10th.Wellbrock shocked the field with a lead of more than 10 seconds in the first kilometer. Everybody else had to work hard to keep up. It paid off at the finish when everyone had too much energy to make a comeback.Paltrinieri stated, "It was unexpected." "I didn’t notice Wellbrock's huge lead until my coach said that I was around 30 seconds behind him. It was hard to close the gap."Florian was today on another planet."His coaches cheered Wellbrock on as he made the final turn around the red buoy at the end of the course. It was over, they knew.Wellbrock reached for the timing pad and climbed out of the water. He then laid down on the deck and poured water onto his chest in the scorching sun. Wellbrock skipped the media mixed zone and went straight to the recovery area. However, he was fine when he returned to collect his gold medal.This was quite a contrast to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro race, in which Weertman defeated Spyridon Gianniotis from Greece by just 0.7 seconds. All 19 top finishers in that race finished within Rasovsky's margin of Wellbrock's lead.Mellouli, who won the 2012 London Games marathon in 3.4 seconds, was the previous winner of three men's marathon races.Mellouli, who was competing in his sixth Olympics at the age of 37, placed 20th among 24 competitors. Mellouli was almost 8 minutes slower than Wellbrock.
