The 29-year-old Brazilian swimmer, considered one of the best open water swimmers in history, claimed the gold medal in the women’s open-water swimming marathon 10km race at the 2020 Tokyo Games.
Cunha finished well clear of her primary threats with a time of one hour, 59 minutes and 30.8 seconds.
Silver medalist Sharon van Rouwendaal, who claimed gold for the Netherlands at the 2016 Rio Games, fell just short of repeating as Olympic champ, by less than a second.
Kareena Lee of Australia was less than two seconds back of the winner to earn bronze.
It’s the second ever Olympic medal ever for Brazil in open water, and the country’s first gold medals in the sport.
Poliana Okimoto took bronze at the 2016 Rio Games.
There’s a silver lining for Mikel Oyarzabal. The 24-year-old Spanish footballer leveled the score in the men’s gold medal match between Spain and Brazil, 1-1, at the 2020 Tokyo Games, but La Roja ultimately had to settle for silver. Coach Luis de la Fuente’s team went into the game undefeated…
He may be 38, but Dani Alves has managed to collect a new title… Olympic champion. The Brazilian soccer star helped lead his country to the gold medal in men’s soccer at the 2020 Tokyo Games. Draped in the Brazilian flag, Alves – the captain of the team – cherished…
Ana Peleteiro is celebrating not one, but two, record-breaking leaps… The 25-year-old Spanish triple jumper claimed the bronze medal in in the women’s triple jump competition at the 2020 Tokyo Games. Peleteiro broke the Spanish record twice to finish in third place. Peleitero followed up her second jump of 14.77 meters with her…
