Tributes for tragic Oen
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ByEurosport
Updated 24/05/2012 at 10:48 GMT
The European Swimming Championships got underway in Debrecen as emotional tributes were made to tragic star Alexander Dale Oen.
SWIMMING Lajos Kosa, mayor of Debrecen, Per Rune Eknes, President of the Norwegian Swimming Federation, Nory Kruchten, President of European Swimming League and Tamas Gyarfas, President of Hungarian Swimming , pay tribute to Alexander Dale Oen on May 21
Image credit: Reuters
There were some celebrations as local favourite Katinka Hosszu won the women’s 400m medley in a Hungarian 1-2, but the mood was otherwise sombre as tearful fans and colleagues watched a tribute film for Oen.
Norwegian world champion Oen collapsed and died suddenly in the shower on April 30 while training in the United States. He was 26.
A minute’s applause was also respected ahead of the start of the day’s action, which saw Germany's Paul Biedermann win the men's 400m freestyle title in three minutes and 47.84 seconds.
Hungary’s Hongrois Gergo Kis (3:48.09) and Italian Samuel Pizzetti (3:48.66) rounded out the podium. Britain’s Robbie Renwick just missed out on a medal with a time of 3:50.46.
Hosszu’s 400m medley win came in 4:33.76, with compatriot Zsuzsanna Jakabos (4:35.68) and Czech Barbora Zavadova (4:38.07) second and third.
The men's and women's 4x100m freestyle relays also took place on Monday.
France won the men's race in 3:13.55, with Italy second and Russia third.
Germany won the women's race in 3:37.98, with Sweden second and Italy third. Hosts Hungary just missed out on a medal.
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