BARCELONA, Catalonia: World record-holder Ryan Lochte of the USA won the men’s 200m individual medley final — despite his goggles steaming up — at swimming’s world championships on Thursday.
Lochte, the Olympic silver medallist, clocked 1min 54.98secs to win gold with 18-year-old Kosuke Hagino of Japan at 1.31 back and Brazil’s Thiago Pereira, who had led after the first two legs, finished 1.32 adrift in bronze.
Hagino won his second silver at these Barclona championships after finishing second to China’s long-distance expert Sun Yang in Sunday’s 400m freestyle final.
Lochte, who collected his 13th worlds gold dating back to Montreal in 2005, suffered from misty goggles in the final length, but still managed to touch the wall first.
“My goggles fogged up in the last fifty so I couldn’t really see the rest of the field, I was just hoping I was in first and could get to the wall,” said the 28-year-old, who also won a worlds silver here with the USA in Sunday’s 4x100m relay.
“I just wanted to hit my turns hard and by the end I was praying that I finished first.” — AFP