Maarten van der Weijden of the Netherlands competes during men's marathon 10km of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games swimming event in Beijing, China, Aug. 21, 2008. Maarten van der Weijden grabbed the gold medal. (Xinhua/Wang Lei) Photo Gallery>>>

    by sportswriter Chang Ailing    

    BEIJING, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- 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.

    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.

    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."

(L to R) Silver medalist David Davies of Great Britain, gold medalist Maarten van der Weijden of the Netherlands and bronze medalist Thomas Lurz of Germany pose on the podium during the awarding ceremony of men's marathon 10km of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games swimming event in Beijing, China, Aug. 21, 2008. (Xinhua/Wang Lei) Photo Gallery>>>

    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.

    "It (his story) is kind of like a Lance Armstrong story. He is a great gentlemen and a great ambassador of the sport. His story is amazing and can inspire a lot of people, especially me. I am proud to race with him and happy for his achievement. It's phenomenal," he said.

    Having won a bronze medal in 1,500-meter freestyle in Athens, Davies said the fight to get the silver in the men's 10-km was a lot harder.

    "This is only my third (open water) race. I always knew I would be a novice in tactics. The last 800 my body had given everything and I was on a sugar low. My head was all over the place, I was swimming zig-zags and didn't know what was going on," he said.

    Davies also competed in the men's 1,500-meter four days ago and ranked 6th. "To have two Olympic medals in two different Games and two different sports, I am so very proud and humble about what I have done. I know how hard it is to get to an Olympic podium," he said.

    Germany's Lurz, 2006 world champion, seemed not completely happy with a bronze medal.

    "The race was extremely hard as everyone is extremely fit," he said. "It was 700m before the end that I had to battle with the group. This lost me a lot of strength and the silver."

    Russia's Dyatchin, who was seen as a top gold favorite as reigning world championship, was disqualified after receiving a red flap in the last lap.

    "I got a yellow card and a red card during the race. It's my first time to get two cards in my sporting career," he said. "I struggled in the water with a lot of athletes around me. I didn't want to push them."

    The open-water event is slated to the 2008 Olympic Games for the first time. It is also referred to as a "wrestling match in water" due to the aggressive techniques employed in competing in the sport. Competitors often knock into each other as they fight for position around the marker buoys and at the feeding stations.

    In Wednesday's women's 10km marathon, Russia's Larisa Ilchenko won gold and British swimmers Keri-Anne Payne and Cassandra Patten ranked second and third.     

Maarten van der Weijden of the Netherlands celebrates after men's marathon 10km of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games swimming event in Beijing, China, Aug. 21, 2008. Maarten van der Weijden grabbed the gold medal. (Xinhua/Wang Lei) Photo Gallery>>>