DUTCHMAN Maarten van der Weijden said the experience of beating cancer helped him win an Olympic gold medal after victory in the men’s 10 kilometres open water marathon swim yesterday.
He compared his gold medal triumph to his personal battle against cancer as he waited patiently for the leaders to set the early pace before a late burst saw him claim gold in a time of 1 hour 51 minutes 51.6 seconds.
“The leukemia has taught me to think step-by-step,” said the brave Dutchman who raised US$74,000 (RM74,000) in 2004 for cancer research by swimming the giant Ijsselmeer lake in Holland.
“When you are in hospital and feeling so much pain and feeling so tired, you don’t want to want to think about the next day or week - you just think about the next hour.
His strong finish left Great Britain’s David Davies in his wake to come home almost two seconds behind for silver, while Germany’s Thomas Lurz took bronze at Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park on the outskirts of Beijing.
Davies, who won 1500m freestyle bronze in Athens four years ago, and Lurz, who won gold at the open water world championships in 2004 and 2006 over 10km, had shared the lead for most of the race.
“It’s going to take a while for it to sink in,” said Davies.
“I gave it everything and now I have something to show for it. It’s a once in a lifetime experience.”
A dizzy spell brought on by low sugar levels after two hours in the water were to blame as Davies was carried away on a stretcher for medical treatment at the finish of only this third race over the distance.
“I was shattered at the finish, I just wanted a lie down and have a sleep, but before I knew it I was on a stretcher,” said a recovered Davies in the press conference.
“I was adament this time last year I wasn’t going to do it, but I might have a rethink now and I have to work on my tactics a lot more.” AFP
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