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Van der Weijden who beat leukemia wins marathon swim
Xinhua
Updated: 2008-08-21 11:15
Beijing - Thursday's men's 10-kilometer marathon swimming was full of dramas as Dutchman Maarten van der Meijden made a last minute dash to take the gold from Briton David Davis and three-time world champion Russia's Vladimir Dyatchin was disqualified from the race at the last lap.
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Maarten van der Weijden of Netherlands drinks while competing in the men's marathon 10km swimming event at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games August 21, 2008. [Agencies]
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Davies, who had led the race during the most part of the two-hour grueling race, seemed to have secured his win in the last 100 meters before van der Meijden sprinted from his side to touch first.
Van der Meijden won in one hour 51 minutes and 51.6 seconds, 1.5 seconds ahead of Davies. German veteran Thomas Lurz won bronze in 1:51:53.6.
Van der Meijden, diagnosed with leukemia in 2001, brought Dutchmen to tears with his heroic victory and they carried him on arms for celebration.
Maarten van der Weijden of Netherlands walks away from the finish line after winning the men's marathon 10km swimming competition at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games August 21, 2008. [Agencies] |
Starting swimming at seven, Van der Meijden was regarded as a great swimming talent. He took part at the European Youth Championships in 1999 and the Open Water World Championships in 2000.
But his swimming career seemed to have to come to a sudden end in 2001 after being diagnosed with leukemia.
After a stem cell transplant, van der Meijden gradually recovered and made a comeback at the 2003 and 2004 Open Water World Championships where he swam faster than before the disease. In the 2008 World Championships, he won a gold in the 25-km race, a bronze in the 5-km race and ranked fourth in 10-km.
Van der Meijden said his past disease has taught him well in swimming. "It taught me to think step by step and to be patient. When you are in so much pain and lying in a hospital bed, you aren't thinking about the next month, but the next hour. This is the same strategy I used here -- staying in the pack and waiting for my chance."
The Dutch swimmer also thanked people who contributed to the cancer research. "Seven-and-a-half years ago I was fighting leukemia. Because of the stem cell transplant I got I had the luck to recover. So everyone who has donated money (to cancer research) in the past I am grateful, for as maybe I wouldn't be here otherwise."
Despite being denied of the gold chance, British Davies expressed his complement to Van der Meijden.