RIO DE JANEIRO – Italy's Gregorio Paltrinieri has taken gold in pool swimming's most grueling race, winning the 1,500-meter freestyle at the Rio Olympics.
Paltrinieri pulled away from the field and was under world-record pace much of the race before fading a bit at the end. Still, he won comfortably Saturday night, touching in 14 minutes, 34.57 seconds.
Connor Jaeger of the United States took the silver in 14:39.48, while the bronze went to another Italian, Gabriele Detti, in 14:40.86.
Detti rallied over the final laps to pass American Jordan Wilimovksy, who settled for fourth.
Wilimovksy will get another shot at a medal in an even more demanding event -- the 10-kilometer open water race at Fort Copacabana on Tuesday.