Glaesner Caps Fine Meet For Denmark
Dec 16, 2012 - Craig Lord
Istanbul, World Short-Course Championships, Day 5 finals:
Men's 1500m freestyle
Mads Glaesner (DEN) claimed gold in 14:30.01 ahead of Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA), on 14:31.13, the bronze going to Pal Joensen in 14:36.93 at the end of a year in which his unique position served as a reminder to IOC bosses to do their very best to iron out the daftness inside their blazers. He races for the Faroe Islands but in Olympic year must race for Denmark. The Faroes, Denmark and all those who work on it and with it and try their best to sort it out, all agree that the Faroes is a nation in its own right and competes at the Paralympics in its own colours. Not Pal, not the able-bodied from the Faroes. It takes a show of hands to put it right. Come on the IOC, take the plunge in the 21st century, the digital age, and get the job done well in time for Rio 2016.
Glaesner split the 500m at 4:46.81, Paltrinieri on 4:47.67, Joensen on 4:46.51. By the 1000m mark, the three battled on stroke for stroke, respectively on 9:39.99, 9:39.53 and 9:39.95. Joensen started to slip off the pace 200m later and was 4sec out of contention with 100m to go as Glaesner and Paltrinieri battled for the crown, the Dane breaking away with 100m to go when he put in a 50m split of 27.96, to 28.50 for Paltrinieri. The last 50m reinforced the victory, the Dane on 27.17, the Italian on 27.78.
"I knew it was going to be painful and it was. I tried to stick to the Italian guy and it worked," said Glaesner. "The Olympic Games were disappointing for us [Denmark], so it's good we are doing so great here."
Dubai 2010 compared:
History in the making:
World s/c Podiums
Most world titles in this event: 3 - Grant Hackett (AUS), 1997, 99, 02; Yuri Prilukov (RUS), 2004, 06, 08.
World Records
All-time textile rankings top 5: