Russia's Ilchenko snatches first Olympic open water gold [Xinhua]

Russia's Larisa Ilchenko pulled away from her chasers in the women's marathon 10-kilometer swimming here Wednesday, snatching the first Olympic gold in open water swimming.

Ilchenko, who followed British swimmers Cassandra Patten and Keri-Anne Payne during most part of the race, successfully overtook the two British after the last turn and finished the race in one hour 59 minutes and 27.7 seconds.