Gregorio Paltrinieri (L) and Gabriele Detti of Italy attend the awarding ceremony of the men's 1500m freestyle final at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Aug. 13, 2016. Gregorio Paltrinieri won the gold medal. (Xinhua/Qi Heng)
RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Gregorio Paltrinieri claimed Italy's first swimming gold medal of the Rio Olympics by coasting to victory in the men's 1,500m freestyle here on Saturday.
The 21-year-old touched the wall in 14 minutes, 34.57 seconds, to finish 4.91 seconds ahead of the USA's Connor Jaeger. His fellow Italian Gabriele Detti took the bronze medal in 14:40.86.
Gregorio, the 1,500m gold medallist at last year's World Championships in Russia, led from the outset at the Olympic Aquatics stadium
He swam under world record pace for much of the race before easing off in the final laps, doing enough to win comfortably.
China's world record holder and defending champion Sun Yang failed to qualify for the final.
