Dutchman Maarten van der Weijden said the experience of beating cancer helped him win an Olympic gold medal after victory in the men's 10km open water marathon swim on Thursday.

The 27-year-old was diagnosed with leukemia in 2001, but came back stronger after his ordeal to compete at the 2003 Open Water World Championships before he was crowned world champion over 25km in Seville earlier this year.

Maarten van der Weijden of Netherlands reacts after winning the men's marathon 10km swimming competition at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games August 21, 2008.  [Agencies]

He compared his gold-medal triumph to his personal battle against cancer as he waited patiently for the leaders to set the early pace before a late burst saw him claim gold in a time of 1 hr 51 min 51.6 sec.

"The leukemia has taught me to think step-by-step," said the brave Dutchman who raised $74,000 in 2004 for cancer research by swimming the giant Ijsselmeer lake in Holland.

"When you are in hospital and feeling so much pain and feeling so tired, you don't want to think about the next hour or week - you just think about the next hour.

"It teaches you to be patient when you are lying in a hospital bed and that was almost the same strategy I chose here to wait for my chance in the pack."

His strong finish left Great Britain's David Davies in his wake to come home almost two seconds behind for silver, while Germany's Thomas Lurz took bronze at Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park on the outskirts of Beijing.

Davies, who won 1,500m freestyle bronze in Athens four years ago, and Lurz, who won gold at the Open Water World Championships in 2004 and 2006 over 10km, had shared the lead for most of the race.

"It's going to take a while for it to sink in," said Davies, who finished in 1 hr 51 min 53.1 sec.

AFP