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 established a razor-thin lead early in the Olympic 1,500-meter freestyle final, an endurance contest that forces swimmers to battle for nearly a mile.

Finke was challenged until the final stretch by Italy's Gregorio Paltrinieri, but in the final hundred meters he pulled away.

The American won gold by nearly four seconds, with a time of 14:30:67, shattering the world record set by Chinese 

"I could see I was half a body length to a body length in front of [the record] at times," Finke said after the race.  "I knew I was on that pace. That wasn’t really my focus, but I did hit the world record, so I’m really proud of that."

He described the final third of the endurance race as grueling: "Toward the end it was starting to hurt a lot, especially that last 400 meters. But I knew it was going to hurt."

Finke is the first member of the American men's swimming team to win gold in Paris in an individual event. His win and a later victory in the women's 4x100 meter medley relay brings the tally for U.S. swimmers to eight gold medals in Paris.

Palterinieri took silver, with Daniel Wiffen of Ireland finishing in third to claim bronze.

Three years ago, Finke established himself by winning the 1,500 meter race in Tokyo. According to 

, he was the first American to win at that distance in the Summer Games since 1984.

Finke also won a silver medal at the Paris Games the 800-meter freestyle.

While Sunday's races wrap up Olympic pool swimming at La Defense arena in Paris, there are still men's and women's outdoor 10,000-meter marathon swimming competitions scheduled for Thursday and Friday. Those races are set to be held in the Seine River.

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Brian Mann

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Bobby Finke came to Paris the reigning Olympic champion in the 1,500 meter freestyle swim. He defended his title with a gold medal win and shattered the world record.  

Olympic triumph: U.S. swimmer Bobby Finke wins gold, sets world record in 1,500 free

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