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2024 Paralympic Rowing – PR1 Women’s Single Scull Preview
In the world of sport, there is always a narrative brewing. Who is rising, and who is falling. But between training peaks and various factors behind the scenes, there is always some noise obscuring the ultimate truth behind the speed. But once every four years we gather to put all that aside. The peak of the sport is at the Paralympic games, across five events, 114 athletes from 29 countries will compete to assure themselves a spot in the history books and earn themselves the ability to say with all certainty: I am the greatest.
Argentina
First up is Brenda Sardon. The Tokyo veteran placed second in the B-Final three years ago and will certainly be looking to sneak into the fight for medals. However, recent results suggest this will be a tall order. She was knocked out in both the repechage of last year’s world championships and this year’s World Rowing Cup II.
Brazil
Speaking of South American scullers, we arrive at Claudia Cicero dos Santos. The Brazilian first raced way back in 2007 and has regularly raced in A-Finals, including all four Paralympics she has previously raced at. While she had to settle for seventh overall at last year’s world championships, in 2024 she was back fighting for medals, leaving World Rowing Cup II sixth overall.
China
Lili Wang has a fascinating career. She debuted on the world stage at the 2016 Paralympic Games where she won the silver medal behind Great Britain’s Rachel Morris. Since then, she’s raced few and far between, rarely finishing higher than a B-Final. That was until the world championships in Belgrade last year where she managed to sneak into the A-Final and finish sixth overall. We are yet to see her race in 2024.
France
Nathalie Benoit will be flying the Tricolour on home water. She’s also a fantastic contender for a medal. In London, she was a silver medalist but three years ago in Tokyo she left with the bronze medal. A gold would complete the set but that’s a tall order. Benoit is a back-to-back world silver medalist and in 2024, she was third at the European championships, 13 seconds back on winner, Birgit Skarstein. With the home crowd, it’s unlikely Benoit misses out on a medal but 13 seconds is a lot to make up if she wants the ultimate prize in this sport.
Israel
If anyone could be a thorn in the side of Benoit’s hunt for a third Paralympic medal (of any colour) then it would be Moran Samuel. Samuel’s progress is fascinating to track. Fifth in London was followed up by third in Rio before winning a silver medal in Tokyo. Much like Benoit, Samuel is also hunting the so-far elusive gold medal to complete her Paralympic collection. 2024 has been a solid campaign so far. Europeans would have been poor by her standards, missing out on a medal by less than three seconds to Benoit, but come World Rowing Cup II she eclipsed Skarstein to win silver behind Manuela Diening who won’t be competing in Paris.
Kenya
Asiya Sururu is another sculler who made her debut at a Paralympics, this time in Tokyo where she was sixth in the B-Final. She hasn’t raced a huge amount since the delayed Games and qualified for Paris by winning the African Paralympic Qualification Regatta.
Norway
The last time Brigit Skarstein didn’t win in an international race was the final of the 2016 Paralympics where she finished fourth. Since then she has been untouchable, winning everything including every major championship and the Tokyo Paralympics. Untouchable, right up until this year. Ok, she didn’t win the race for lanes at the European championships, but she went on to win them outright. However, the biggest cause for concern is that she could only manage a bronze at World Rowing Cup II behind Samuel and the aforementioned German. This is unlikely to fluster her too much given it was by less than seven seconds but losing in a Paralympic year is never a good sign.
South Korea
11 years ago, Sejeong Kim introduced herself to the world with a seventh-placed finish at her home world championships. Since then, her most notable achievement was winning the B-Final at the Tokyo Paralympics. She qualifies for her second Games after winning the Asian Paralympic Qualification Regatta.
Sweden
Despite only being 24 years old, Ebba Einarsson has been representing Sweden since 2018. Back in 2021, she missed out on a chance to go to Tokyo at the European Paralympic Qualification Regatta. She had to go through the same regatta at the FPQR to get to Paris but she will be lining up on the start line. Last season, Einarsson won the B-Final at World Rowing Cup II and went on to place ninth at the world championships.
Switzerland
Another fresh face on the circuit, Claire Ghiringhelli punhed her ticket to Paris via the EPQR which she won handsomely over Einarsson. The Swiss sculler went on to race at World Rowing Cup II but with around a minute separating her from the medalists, there is too much ground for her to make up to be in with an outside shot at a medal this weekend.
Ukraine
A hot favourite for a medal, Anna Sheremet is an exciting and dangerous sculler who will be taking to the waters this weekend. The 23-year-old has risen right to the very top of the field after winning back-to-back bronze medals at the world championships following a fourth-placed finish in Tokyo. However, 2024 is yet to deliver some silverware. Fifth in Szeged was succeeded by fourth in Lucerne so the results are heading in the right direction once again.
Uzbekistan
Mukhayyo Abdusattorova joins the Paris field after winning the FPQR in Lucerne. Previously she’s only raced internationally once, placing third in the B-Final of the 2023 World Rowing Cup II in the PR2 Mixed Double Sculls. She will likely finish in the B-Final once more this weekend.
Prediction
This race is set to be a belter with Norway, France, Israel, and Ukraine all in with a shout of a medal. I think Norway will get it done with France taking second ahead of Israel.
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