‘He was my little baby’ – Van Rouwendaal dedicates gold to pet dog

The Netherlands’ Sharon van Rouwendaal dedicated her gold medal in the women’s 10km marathon swim to her pet dog who died earlier this year.

Van Rouwendaal said her “world stopped” when her dog Rio, named after the Olympic gold she won in Brazil in 2016, died in May.

“I didn’t care about swimming for three weeks, he was my little baby,” she said after winning gold in Paris.

Van Rouwendaal had to settle for silver at Tokyo in 2021 after missing out on gold by an agonising 0.9 seconds.

On Thursday, she overtook Australia’s Moesha Johnson in the final lap to snatch victory in two hours three minutes 34.2 seconds.

After emerging triumphant from the River Seine, Van Rouwendaal pointed to and kissed a tattoo of Rio’s paw print on her wrist.

“He needed a little operation for his lungs so I gave it to him in the hope we could live in the Netherlands after the Olympics together in my house with a garden. He had complications after the surgery and he died,” she explained.

“I was like, ‘let’s try it and I’ll swim for him with my whole heart’. I did it, I won for him.”

Johnson finished 5.5 seconds behind to take silver and Ginevra Taddeucci of Italy claimed bronze, while Great Britain’s Leah Crisp finished 20th.

The marathon swimming familiarisation had previously been cancelled after tests showed levels of bacteria in the water had dropped below the required standard.

However, Wednesday’s test went ahead before the 10km race on Thursday.

The water quality of the Seine had been a major talking point before and during Paris 2024, with the men’s triathlon postponed by a day because of the low water quality.

The men’s marathon swim is due to take place on Friday.