French swimmer Olivier claims 1st gold medal at aquatics worlds
Canada's Eric Hedlin finishes 14th
Marc-Antoine Olivier of France claimed the first gold medal at the World Aquatics Championships on Saturday in Hungary by winning the men's 5-kilometre open water race.
Olivier, who won bronze in the 10K at the 2016 Olympics, finished the course in 54 minutes, 31.40 seconds, edging Italy's Mario Sanzullo by 0.70 seconds.
Timothy Shuttleworth of Britain was 10.70 seconds behind Olivier for bronze.
Men 5km Open Water, results<br><br>🥇<a href="https://twitter.com/marcantoineoli1">@marcantoineoli1</a> 🇫🇷 - 54:31.40<br>🥈Mario Sanzullo 🇮🇹 - 54:32.10<br>🥉<a href="https://twitter.com/TimShuttle">@TimShuttle</a> 🇬🇧 - 54:42.10
—@fina1908Canada's Eric Hedlin finished 14th in a time of 54:56.9, which was 25.5 seconds back of Olivier.
"I wanted to start out a little higher position. My shoulders really tightened up and I felt really stiff early on. After the first lap I felt more relaxed and started passing people," said the 24-year-old from Victoria.
"I got boxed in a little bit on most of the second lap, because I didn't start with a good position. I could have come top seven if my positioning had been better."
🥇<a href="https://twitter.com/marcantoineoli1">@marcantoineoli1</a> 🇫🇷 <a href="https://t.co/s1jzZxdNGO">pic.twitter.com/s1jzZxdNGO</a>
—@fina1908The women's 10K race takes place Sunday, with the men's 10K on Tuesday.
With files from CBC Sports