The Dutch swimmer secured the gold medal on the 13th day of the Games with a standout performance in the River Seine. Van Rouwendaal finished ahead of Australia’s Moesha Johnson and Italy’s Ginevra Taddeucci.
The 30-year-old athlete revealed after the race that her dog Rio, named after Rio de Janeiro where she won gold in 2016, had passed away shortly before the Paris Games.
“Earlier this year, my little dog passed away,” she told reporters. “He needed lung surgery, and I hoped that after the Olympics, we could live together in my house and garden. Unfortunately, he had complications from the surgery and died.
“My world came to a halt, and I couldn’t focus on swimming for about three weeks. He was my little baby.”
Van Rouwendaal’s father encouraged her to compete one last time for Rio. “He reminded me that I had been away from him for seven years because of competitions. ‘Do one more race and give it everything. Swim for him,’ he said.”
She added, “I got a tattoo of his paw on my wrist and decided to give it a try. I swam for him with all my heart. I won this for him.”
Van Rouwendaal’s victory marked the Netherlands’ 10th gold medal at the Paris Olympics, moving them up to ninth place in the medal table, with Team GB in fifth place with 12 golds at the time of writing.
