Victory doesn’t take sting out of race, says Ilchenko

LARISA Ilchenko was repeatedly stung by jellyfish as she battled through one of the toughest races of her life to win the 10km open water world title in Melbourne by barely a second.

The exhausted Russian was stung all over her body, including her face, as she gave every last ounce of energy to hold off Britain’s Cassandra Patten to add the 10km crown to the 5km World Swimming Championship gold she won on Sunday.

Russia took both golds on offer yesterday with Anastasia Davydova and Anastasia Ermakova winning the technical duet synchronised swimming title ahead of Spain and Japan, while China continued domination of the diving.