World Aquatics Championships 2023: Marathon swimmers Leonie Beck, Chelsea Gubecka, Katie Grimes qualify for Paris 2024
The first medals in Fukuoka, Japan, were awarded in the women's 10km. The top three also punched their tickets to next summer's Olympic Games.
Marathon Swimming
The first medals of the World Aquatics Championships 2023 in Fukuoka, Japan, have been awarded in marathon swimming - along with the first tickets to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Leonie Beck of Germany came from behind in the final lap to win the women's 10km in 2 hours, 2 minutes, 34.0 seconds, taking home the first gold medal of the 14-30 July championships.
Beck roared back from 10th to first as she overtook Australia's Chelsea Gubecka, who touched in 2:02:38.1.
American Katie Grimes rounded out the podium (2:02:42.3) after coming out ahead in a three-way photo finish over a pair of Olympic champions, Sharon van Rouwendaal of the Netherlands and Brazil's Ana Marcela Cunha.
The top three finishers in the women's and men's 10km qualify automatically for next summer's Games. The men's race is on Sunday (16 July).
"Right now I can't believe what just happened, I'm so glad," Beck said. "The last lap was really, really hard but I'm super happy that I got the Olympic ticket because that is all I wanted.
"A lot of training like always. We are training our whole lives for the Olympics Games. I've been in the sport for around 15 years at this level but like always, hard training, a lot of time, effort and giving your best every day."
Seventeen-year-old Grimes - who is also entered in the pool swimming in the 800 metres next week - said she had been practising on the wall since arriving in Japan and as it turns out, the work paid off as she held off the gold medallists at the last two Games.
The 17-year-old was the youngest member of the U.S. delegation at Tokyo 2020, and is now the first from her country to qualify for Paris.
"I was just really not trying to look at them. I knew they were there but I was just trying to focus on having a perfect finish," Grimes said.
"The last couple of days, I've been spending 15 minutes just working on timing it perfectly in case it is a three- maybe an eight-woman finish. They're both incredible swimmers so just happy to be in the mix."
Leonie Beck won the first gold medal of Fukuoka 2023 - and a ticket to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.