10 kilometres Open Water, Women
| Date | 15 August 2016 — 9:00 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Forte de Copacabana, Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro | |
| Participants | 26 from 24 countries | |
| Format | Final only. | |
Much of the pre-race discussion about this event concerned the water quality in Fort Copacabana bay. There were complaints of bacterial and viral infestation and the media made it a huge topic coming into the Rio Olympics. In the end the Organizing Committee cleaned up the water and there were no complaints from the competitors.
There were 26 swimmers in perfectly calm water conditions. Sharon van Rouwendaal of the Netherlands, the 2015 World Championship runner-up, took the lead at the halfway mark and won easily, by over 17 seconds. Second-place was tightly fought, as Italian Rachele Bruni came to the line almost even with the 2015 World Champion Aurélie Muller of France. Muller appeared to pull on Bruni’s arm as the Italian tried to touch the finishing board, and Muller was disqualified, giving Bruni the silver medal. This gave bronze to Brazil’s Poliana Okimota, two seconds behind second, but 23 seconds ahead of fourth-placed Xin Xin of China.
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | Time | Lap 1 | Lap 2 | Lap 3 | Lap 2 Split | Lap 3 Split | Lap 4 Split | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sharon van Rouwendaal |  NED | 1-56:32.1 | 30:53.1 (12) | 1-01:00.2 (6) | 1-29:29.5 (5) | 30:07.1 (11) | 28:29.3 (2) | 27:02.6 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | Rachele Bruni |  ITA | 1-56:49.5 | – (–) | 1-01:04.0 (11) | 1-29:33.4 (6) | 28:29.4 (1) | – (–) | 27:16.1 (2) | Silver | 1 | |
| 3 | Poliana Okimoto |  BRA | 1-56:51.4 | 30:53.1 (12) | – (7) | 1-29:34.5 (–) | – (–) | – (–) | 27:16.9 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | Xin Xin |  CHN | 1-57:14.4 | – (–) | 1-01:06.3 (17) | 1-29:36.1 (8) | 28:29.8 (2) | – (–) | 27:38.3 (5) | |||
| 5 | Haley Anderson |  USA | 1-57:20.2 | 30:57.9 (20) | 1-01:03.6 (9) | 1-29:46.3 (20) | 30:05.7 (10) | 28:42.7 (9) | 27:33.9 (4) | |||
| 6 | Isabelle Härle |  GER | 1-57:22.1 | – (–) | 1-01:03.6 (9) | 1-29:39.4 (14) | 28:35.8 (3) | – (–) | 27:42.7 (7) | |||
| 7 | Keri-Anne Payne |  GBR | 1-57:23.9 | 30:54.2 (16) | 1-01:07.6 (19) | 1-29:39.0 (13) | 30:13.4 (17) | 28:31.4 (3) | 27:44.9 (8) | |||
| 8 | Anastasiya Krapivina |  RUS | 1-57:25.9 | – (–) | 1-01:04.4 (13) | 1-29:40.7 (15) | 28:36.3 (5) | – (–) | 27:45.2 (9) | |||
| 9 | Samantha Arévalo |  ECU | 1-57:27.2 | 30:57.9 (20) | – (21) | 1-29:47.3 (–) | – (–) | – (–) | 27:39.9 (6) | |||
| 10 | Ana Marcela Cunha | BRA | 1-57:29.0 | 30:51.6 (11) | 1-01:06.1 (15) | 1-29:38.4 (11) | 30:14.5 (18) | 28:32.3 (4) | 27:50.6 (11) | |||
| 11 | Kelly Araouzou |  GRE | 1-57:31.6 | 31:01.1 (24) | 1-01:13.0 (25) | 1-29:37.8 (10) | 30:11.9 (14) | 28:24.8 (1) | 27:53.8 (12) | |||
| 12 | Yumi Kida |  JPN | 1-57:35.2 | – (–) | 1-01:07.6 (19) | 1-29:45.4 (19) | 28:37.8 (6) | – (–) | 27:49.8 (10) | |||
| 13 | Éva Risztov |  HUN | 1-57:42.8 | – (–) | 1-01:01.1 (7) | 1-29:37.0 (9) | 28:35.9 (4) | – (–) | 28:05.8 (14) | |||
| 14 | Anna Olasz | HUN | 1-57:45.5 | 30:58.2 (23) | 1-01:01.7 (8) | 1-29:40.8 (16) | 30:03.5 (9) | 28:39.1 (6) | 28:04.7 (13) | |||
| 15 | Chelsea Gubecka |  AUS | 1-58:12.7 | 30:53.2 (14) | 1-01:06.5 (18) | 1-29:48.6 (22) | 30:13.3 (16) | 28:42.1 (8) | 28:24.1 (15) | |||
| 16 | Špela Perše |  SLO | 1-58:59.6 | – (–) | 1-01:08.1 (21) | – (–) | – (–) | – (–) | – (–) | |||
| 17 | Erika Villaécija |  ESP | 1-59:04.8 | – (–) | 1-01:09.0 (22) | – (–) | – (–) | – (–) | – (–) | |||
| 18 | Michelle Weber |  RSA | 1-59:05.0 | 30:53.8 (15) | 1-01:06.2 (16) | 1-29:43.1 (17) | 30:12.4 (15) | 28:36.9 (5) | 29:21.9 (18) | |||
| 19 | Jana Pechanová |  CZE | 1-59:07.7 | – (–) | – (–) | 1-30:12.6 (25) | – (–) | – (–) | – (–) | |||
| 20 | Paola Pérez |  VEN | 1-59:07.7 | 30:55.7 (17) | 1-01:10.8 (23) | – (–) | 30:15.1 (19) | – (–) | – (–) | |||
| 21 | Heidi Gan |  MAS | 1-59:07.9 | – (–) | 1-01:10.8 (23) | 1-30:00.9 (24) | 28:50.1 (8) | – (–) | 29:07.0 (16) | |||
| 22 | Joanna Zachoszcz |  POL | 1-59:20.4 | 30:58.1 (22) | – (–) | 1-29:59.1 (23) | – (–) | – (–) | 29:21.3 (17) | |||
| 23 | Stephanie Horner |  CAN | 1-59:22.1 | 30:55.7 (17) | 1-01:04.0 (11) | 1-29:44.8 (18) | 30:08.3 (13) | 28:40.8 (7) | 29:37.3 (19) | |||
| 24 | Vânia Neves |  POR | 2-01:39.3 | 30:57.7 (19) | 1-01:05.0 (14) | – (–) | 30:07.3 (12) | – (–) | – (–) | |||
| 25 | Reem Kassem |  EGY | 2-05:19.1 | – (26) | 1-01:13.4 (–) | 1-32:42.5 (26) | 31:29.1 (20) | – (–) | 32:36.6 (20) | |||
| Aurélie Muller |  FRA | – | – ([5]) | [1-00:59.3] (–) | [1-29:38.7] ([12]) | [28:39.4] ([7]) | – (–) | – (–) | 2 |