British Duo Take 10km Swim Medals

Larisa Ilchenko put in a late charge to overhaul Britain's Keri-Anne Payne and Cassie Patten for victory in a dramatic 10km marathon swim in Beijing.

The Russian, unbeaten since 2004, took the lead in the final 100m after Patten and Payne had led for most of the race.

The Stockport Metro club-mates made the world champion work extremely hard for gold as they won the remaining medals.

Ilchenko finished in a time of one hour 59 minutes 27.7 seconds with Payne and Patten just a few strokes behind.

Ilchenko set the pace in the opening stages but was soon overtaken by both Payne and Patten.

The Russian was content to sit on the feet of the leading pair, even when the British duo tried to make a move after one hour and 32 minutes.

With 250m to go, the medal contenders were whittled down to just four, with Germany's Angela Maurer joining Payne, Patten and Ilchenko at the front.

Maurer, though, was unable to match Ilchenko's burst of pace as the Russian pulled alongside the British pair.

Payne fought back, matching her stroke for stroke until Ilchenko inched ahead for the win.

Courtesy : BBC
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