PARIS, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Hubert Kos clinched Hungary's first gold medal of the Paris Olympics by winning the men's 200m backstroke final here on Thursday.
Kos touched the wall in one minute, 54.26 seconds, almost a second ahead of Greece's Apostolos Christou, who took silver. Switzerland's Roman Mityukov claimed bronze in 1:54.85.
"I haven't really processed this. I need a little time but I am over the moon," said Kos, who won the world championship in 2023.
"I knew I had to have speed coming back. It doesn't matter how I got there, it matters that I got there."
Kos lavished praise on his coach Bob Bowman, the trainer of U.S. legend Michael Phelps and Frenchman Leon Marchand.
"Without him I'd probably be like 15th in the 2IM [200m individual medley] right now," the 21-year-old said. "It's been an incredible journey with him and I'm just happy to be part of a team like that.
"The magic touch is the work. He doesn't let us be second best. He doesn't let us stoop down to a level he doesn't want from us. That brings out the best in us." ■
