Ilchenko retains 5km crown
2008-05-06 15:23
Seville - Russia's Larisa Ilchenko claimed a second gold medal at the Open Water World Championships by retaining her 5km crown on Tuesday.
The 19-year-old, who won the Olympic qualifying 10km race on
Saturday, clocked one hour 4.6 seconds to beat compatriot
Ekaterina Seliverstova by a comfortable 3.2 seconds.
Ilchenko also won the 5km and 10km double at the world
championships in Melbourne last year.
Chloe Sutton of the United States took bronze ahead of Jana
Pechanova of the Czech Republic and Jing Zheng of China, who
were awarded joint fourth place.
Russian men's 10km gold medallist Vladimir Dyatchin was
unable to emulate Ilchenko's feat and had to settle for silver behind Germany's Thomas Lurz in the men's 5km.
Lurz, who took the bronze in the 10km, finished 1.5 seconds
ahead of Dyatchin in a time of 54 minutes 57.3. Maarten van der
Weijden of the Netherlands clinched the bronze.
South Africa's Natalie du Toit finished 16th after a sensational fourth place in the 10km race last week.
- Reuters