World Championships: Florian Wellbrock Caps Sweep of Open Water Events with Knockout Decision; Ichika Kajimoto Breaks Through
Already the champion of the 5k and 10k open-water events, Germany’s Florian Wellbrock completed a sweep of the individual disciplines at the World Championships on Saturday. This time, the distance ace claimed the gold medal in the 3k knockout event, which made its debut at the World Champs.
The knockout event included three stages, contested consecutively. Two 1500 heats opened action, with the top-10 finishers in each heat advancing to the semifinals. A 1000 was then held, with the top-10 finishers moving on to a closing 500, which determined the medals.
Wellbrock covered his closing 500 in 5:46, which got him to the touch ahead of Hungarian David Betlehem (5:47.7) and Frenchman Marc-Antoine Olivier, who was the bronze medalist in 5:51.1. Wellbrock now owns nine career gold medals from the Worlds Championships, a pool title in the 1500 freestyle and eight crowns in open water.
“My third gold was really unexpected. It was a completely new situation for me to race in the knockout race,” Wellbrock said. “I had no idea how it worked and what the best position to start the new heat was. It was so much fun, especially at the end with the 500 race. Just jump in and go all out, so I found a way to enjoy the race today.
“To be honest, I’m still a little speechless and I have no words for it. When I arrived here and came here to Singapore, I just expected to get a top position in the 10k race because it’s the most important event at the Olympics. So my target was just to get a good week and giving all I have to give, and I ended up with three golds. That’s amazing.”
On the women’s side, Japan’s Ichika Kajimoto earned the first world championship of her career when she rallied for a come-from-behind triumph. After navigating the first two legs of the knockout race, Kajimoto posted a time of 6:19.9 to top the field. That mark handed Kajimoto victory over Italian Ginevra Taddeucci (6:21.9), who was also the silver medalist in the 5k and 10k events. There was a tie for third place between 5k and 10k gold medalist Moesha Johnson and Hungary’s Bettina Fabian, with both women going 6:23.1.
Kajimoto lost her cap during the race, but maintained composure. She’ll now turn her attention to the pool, where she’ll compete in a week.
“It was important for me to stay calm when my swimming cap fell off,” she said. “I kept a cool head and just continued with the race.”
