RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) -- Italy's Gregorio Paltrinieri had to go nearly a mile to earn his medal.
Paltrinieri showed off his endurance in pool swimming's longest event as he pulled away from the field to capture the 1,500 free.
Paltrinieri was under world-record pace much of the race before fading a bit at the end. Still, he won comfortably in 14 minutes, 34.57 seconds.
Connor Jaeger of the United States took the silver in 14:39.48, while the bronze went to another Italian, Gabriele Detti, in 14:40.86.
Detti rallied over the final laps to pass American Jordan Wilimovksy, who settled for fourth.
Wilimovksy will get another shot at a medal in an even more demanding event -- the 10-kilometer open water race at Fort Copacabana on Tuesday.
Only the final two swimming events remained: the 4x100 medley relays for men and women, featuring what was touted as Michael Phelps' finale. He was trying to head back into retirement with the 23rd gold medal of his career.
