Leonie Beck: Germany's Leonie Beck claimed the women's 5km open water gold on Tuesday to add to her 10km title at the World Aquatics Championships.

Advertisement

The 26-year-old clocked 59 minutes 31.70 seconds, beating Sharon van Rouwendaal of the Netherlands by just one second. Brazil's Ana Marcela Cunha finished third in 59:33.90, reports Xinhua.

Advertisement

Beck acknowledged that winning a second race in the space of four days came as a surprise.

"I didn't believe I could win a medal in the 5k after the hard 10k race," she said. "Mentally it's not easy, but I'm really happy that I could win the 5k. I would never have thought of it."

Beck added that she had dropped back during the first lap after one of her eyes was hit by something, but managed to recover.

"I had to catch the group at one point after one and a half laps," she said. "Then I tried my best to go in front and raced till the end."

About the Author

IANS News
IANS is one of the largest independent private Indian news agency in India. Founded in the year 1986 by Indian American publisher Gopal Raju as the "India Abroad News Service" and later renamed. Their main offices are located in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. Read More
Latest Cricket News