Florian Wellbrock added a marathon swim title in Abu Dhabi to his Olympic gold medal achieved at Tokyo 2020 ©FINA

There was double delight for Germany at the finale of the International Swimming Federation (FINA) Marathon Swim World Series as Leonie Beck and Olympic champion Florian Wellbrock won the respective women’s and men’s 10 kilometres titles here in Abu Dhabi.

Beck came from behind to beat Olympic gold medallist Ana Marcela Cunha of Brazil in a thrilling race, while Wellbrock proved too strong for Domenico Acerenza of Italy and Hungary’s Kristóf Rasovszky.

Rasovszky’s bronze-medal showing was enough to be crowned Marathon World Series champion following Marc-Antoine Olivier’s disqualification.

Olivier was leading the overall standings heading into the United Arab Emirates leg after winning three of the previous stages.

But the Frenchman received a red card for unsportsmanlike conduct 42min 57sec into the race.

Rasovszky, the Olympic silver medallist, set the pace in the first 1km leg arriving in 10:36.4, followed closely by Wellbrock.

But Wellbrock soon took control of the race, leading by the 2.5km mark as Rasovszky tried to stay in the hunt for the title.

Rasovszky dropped off the pace in the final lap as Wellbrock powered to victory in 1 hour 32min 26.9sec.

A strong second half of the race saw Acerenza claim silver in 1:32:28.4 as Rasovszky bagged bronze in 1:32:30.0.

In the women's race, Katie Grimes of the United States took off fastest in the first 1km, covering the initial distance in 11:28.9 before settling into the second position after the next 2.5km section - a second behind Italy's Ginevra Taddeucci. 

The Italian would find her place at the front of the pack which featured Dutch swimmer Sharon van Rouwendaal.  

Van Rouwendaal headed seven swimmers in the final lap before being overtaken by Cunha and Beck.

Beck clocked a winning time of 1:58:17.0, more than two seconds ahead of Cunha who finished in 1:58:19.3.

Van Rouwendaal had to settle for bronze after crossing in 1:58:22.1.

"This is a bit of a surprise for me," said Beck. 

"I started slowly. 

"I wanted to save energy for the finish, but I was too slow and I found myself at the very end, perhaps in the last position, so I tried to catch the first pack, then another pack, then another pack.

"Then I just recognised that I’m very much close to the leaders and try to launch a final attack. 

"Really, I did not expect to pass them so easily, but once I did, I just went with full speed."

Cunha's result also saw her secure the overall women's title along with France's Oceane Cassignol after they both finished on 2,300 points.