One down, three to go for Sharon Van Rouwendaal after she storms to 5km gold
Sharon Van Rouwendaal won gold in the women's 5Km race with a strong performance.
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Dutch Olympic Champion Sharon Van Rouwendaal put down a marker as she won the women’s 5km race by 16.8 seconds at Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park on Wednesday.
Germany’s Leonie Beck was a surprise runner-up, while eight-time European Champion Rachele Bruni (ITA) pipped her training partner Arianna Bridi (ITA) to the bronze.
Van Rrouwendaal, who has entered all four events in the competition, says she never has a race plan but goes by gut instinct. The 24-year-old took the 5km race by the scruff of the neck and never let go.
“I felt really good, so I was like, 'maybe take the lead now and see what happens'," she said. "I looked around and saw only two women left so I was like, 'OK focus and you can get the gold or silver'."
"After one lap I was like 'whoa maybe she's gonna sprint and I'm gonna get the silver' and it feels like losing. But then I just thought 'keep calm and concentrate', just keep up the pace."
In the men’s race, Hungary's Kristof Rasovszky held off a strong French challenge to take the gold medal ahead of 25km World Champion Axel Reymond and 19-year-old Logan Fontaine.
"It was [my race plan] to swim the last half lap as fast as I could," said Rasovszky "When the two French guys came over and went to the front I tried to chase after them and save some energy so that I could try to beat them before the finish because they are so fast (as finishers)."
