The Greek athlete Spyridon Gianniotis defended his title in the grueling 10-kilometer open water event at the Swimming World Championships in Barcelona, Spain on July 22, and won the gold medal.
Gianniotis clocked 1 hour, 49 minutes, 11.8 seconds in the waters of Barcelona’s harbor.
Thomas Lurz of Germany finished second, 2.7 seconds behind, and Olympic champion Oussama Mellouli of Tunisia was third, 7.4 seconds back.
“I wasn’t feeling so good but I picked it up and got in the first places the last lap and I said to myself, ‘That’s it, go in front and whatever happens happens,” Gianniotis said.
“I’m quite good at sprinting, but not like Oussama. … I knew that if it goes to the end, even if he’s more tired than me, he’s got more speed than me, so I tried to stay in front,” he added.
“The last 50 meters I’ve never felt so bad in my life. I nearly fainted … My hands were (shaking),” the Greek athlete explained.
Gianniotis has been swimming in world championships since 2001. That was the fourth medal for him in the world championships. Gianniotis finished fourth at the London Games, “It’s not the same. I don’t know if I want to be happy or upset that I was not on a podium position in the Olympics.”
“But I came here with only 3 1/2 months training and I won. After the Olympics I was feeling very bad psychologically, but this is sport and I said to myself I wanted to come back.”
Gianniotis dedicated his victory in Barcelona to his fellow countrymen.
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