Swimmer Sharon van Rouwendaal has won the gold medal in the 10 kilometre open water race through the Seine river at the Paris Olympics.

Van Rouwendaal won silver over the distance in Tokyo and gold in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. She is the first person ever to win two golds in Olympic open water swimming.

The Seine had been repeatedly tested to make sure it was clean enough to swim in, and several events were postponed earlier in the games because of the poor water quality.

Australia’s Moesha Johnson claimed silver and Italy’s Ginevra Taddeucci took bronze in the swimming marathon, which took over two hours to complete.

More medal hopes have been placed on the shoulders of Femke Bol, who takes part in the final of the 400 metres hurdles later on Thursday.

But Bol is not top favourite for the event. That role goes to world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone who was not in action when Bol won the world title last year.

The Dutch men’s hockey team also take on Germany in the final at 7 pm on Thursday evening.