Horton fails to fire in 1500m final

Mack Horton was unable to back up his gold medal effort from the 400m, finishing fifth in the final of the 1500m in Rio.

Italian Gregorio Paltrinieri (14min.34.57sec.) dominated from start to finish to claim gold, with American Conor Jaeger taking silver and Paltrinieri’s countryman Gabriele Detti third.

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Horton finished fifth in a time of 14min.49.54sec., which was slower than his heat swim.

Paltrinieri took it out hard and was under world record pace until his final laps.

Horton, who won a gold medal last week in the 400m freestyle event, was in lane six after qualifying sixth fastest.

Paltrinieri was the fastest qualifier coming in, with a time four seconds better than Horton's heat swim.

But Americans Conor Jaeger and Jordan Wilimovsky also loomed large, with London silver medallist Ryan Cochrane out in lane one.

Image: Getty

World record holder and London gold medal winner Sun Yang was a shock absentee after failing to make it through to the final, meaning another chapter in the growing rivalry with Horton would have to wait.

Speaking after the race, Horton said it had been a little bit disappointing.

"I would have liked to have been faster in the heat yesterday or been closer to a (personal best)," he said.

"It's been a massive week really.

"Been on for eight days and my body has been kind of on the edge of getting sick for the last couple of days, I've just been holding it together.

"I am just happy to get through that race. I am super stoked for Greg, he's a good friend of mine, so really happy to see him get the win.

"After the 4x200m, I think two max two-hundreds just really maxed it out on that day and was really feeling a bit rough the next day.

"Just been trying to keep it together for the rest of the week, basically, trying to get through."