BEIXIAOYING TOWN // Maarten van der Weijden of the Netherlands skirted just inside the final red buoy to grab gold in the men's 10km open water race today, completing one of the great Olympic comebacks after recovering from leukaemia. Van der Weijden won a three-way sprint in the inaugural event with a better-angled finish under a steady rain. "I think the leukaemia taught me to think step by step," van der Weijden said. "When you're laying in the hospital bed and feeling so much pain and feeling so tired, you don't want to think about next week or next month, you're only thinking about the next hour. "You just (have to) be patient. You lay in your bed and just wait. It's almost the same strategy I've used here, to stay in the pack, to be patient, and stay easy just waiting for your chance." David Davies of Britain and Thomas Lurz of Germany drifted to the outside at the finish and settled for silver and bronze. Van der Weijden reached up to slap the yellow touchpad in one hour, 51 minutes, 51.6 seconds. Davies was 1.5 seconds behind and Lurz finished 2.0 seconds back. "If there is anyone in the field that can beat me, that guy is an absolute legend," Davies said of van der Weijden. "He's a great guy. He's obviously been to the depths in his personal life and to come back is a great story. Lance Armstrong epic." Van der Weijden was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2001. He came back in 2003 and began swimming faster than before he had the disease. He now commits a large portion of his time to raising awareness for leukaemia. "Because of the treatment I got, the stem cell transplants, I had the luck to recover," van der Weijden said. "The stem cell transplants are because of research worldwide for cancer. So everyone who donates money, donated money in the past, I'm grateful too or otherwise I wouldn't be here."
*AP
