By Braden Keith on SwimSwam
Dutch swimmer Sharon van Rouwendaal has dedicated her Olympic gold medal in the 10km open water marathon swim to her dog Rio, a Pomeranian who died in May.
“I didn’t care about swimming for three weeks, he was my little baby,” she said after winning gold on Thursday morning in a thrilling finish that saw her overtake her training partner, Australian Moesha Johnson, in the final lap to grab a win.
After emerging from the River Seine, she pointed at a tattoo of Rio’s paw print on her wrist and kissed it.
“He needed a little operation for his lungs so I gave it to him in the hope we could live in the Netherlands after the Olympics together in my house with a garden. He had complications after the surgery and he died,” she explained.
“I was like, ‘let’s try it and I’ll swim for him with my whole heart’. I did it, I won for him.”
Van Rouwendaal is a dog lover and lost another friend, Flappy, in December.
She still has a Pomeranian named Pongo that she got for Christmas late last year.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: Sharon van Rouwendaal Dedicates Her Olympic Gold Medal to Her Dog, Rio, Who Died in May