Women’s Single Scull – Semifinals A/B
Things are heating up in the singles, after heats and quarter-finals led the way earlier in the week. Karolien Florijn – the Dutch world champion – was tracked carefully all the way down the course by Tara Rigney; her fast start gave her an initiative that she did not relinquish to the Australian and she opened up a little approaching the final 300m to extend her lead to just under a length. Desislava Angelova of Bulgaria took the last slot into the A-final, relegating Tokyo silver medalist Anna Prakaten to the B-final.
Emma Twigg posted another strong statement of intent in her semi-final, controlling the race from the off and continually putting out fires started by the racey Viktorija Senkute of Lithuania. Her quest to become the first woman to win multiple Olympic golds in the single scull will have its chance in the sun on Saturday morning. Kara Kohler from the USA managed to secure the third and final slot into the A-final.
Men’s Single Scull – Semifinals A/B
The battle between Simon Van Dorp and Tom Mackintosh was the one everyone was talking about pre-race, but that never materialised in any meaningful way as the big Dutchman strolled away from the Kiwi, who instead was caught in a slugfest with Tim Brys of Belgium. Mackintosh prevailed but had to unleash a sprint that he’ll surely have been hoping to keep closeted until Saturday’s showdown.
Oliver Zeidler broke the Olympic record by a stunning five seconds in his semi-final in a deafening message to his opponents for Saturday’s super showdown. Can anyone catch the three-times world champion when he is on this sort of form? Behind, a compelling battle developed between Yauheni Zalaty, Olympic champion Stefanos Ntouskos and Sverri Nielsen of Denmark for second and third. In the end, it was the Dane who narrowly missed out as the mercurial Grecian found another gear in the closing stages.
Women’s Double Scull – Final A
What a sensational race. World and Olympic champions from Romania came into this year as firm favourites, undefeated since before Tokyo. The last few months saw their campaign for consecutive golds come unstuck and so it was that New Zealand surged to a sensational win in the final, rowing down the fast-starting Romanians. Great Britain – who had to come through the qualifying regatta in May – secured a brilliant bronze.
Men’s Double Scull – Final A
Talk about upsets. The Dutch – who have looked unbeatable all season – finally came unstuck on the grandest of stages and in the most dramatic of circumstances as the remarkable, bewitching Romanian circus rolled in town. From Lane One, they blew the field apart to win gold with Ireland in bronze.
Women’s Four – Final A
These Olympics are delivering drama of the highest level. The Dutch – who missed out on what seemed to be a guaranteed gold a few moments before in the men’s double – swooped decisively in the opening 100m to take a lead which they stubbornly refused to relinquish to a British crew who huffed and puffed but could not blow the orange house down. Helen Glover wins her third – and likely final – Olympic medal although it is not the colour that many expected. New Zealand and the Tokyo Olympic champion Kerri Williams secured bronze.
Men’s Four – Final A
After much posturing and pontificating, the men’s coxless four hierarchy was finally determined in another captivating final. The USA and New Zealand jumped out early to create a two-way tussle for gold and silver, which the Americans won with a great final response to the Kiwi surge in the closing moments. Great Britain – who were world champions in this event last summer – had to settle for bronze in a category that seemed to slip away from them in 2024.
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