H2- / Men's Coxless Pair
REDGRAVE One Step Closer to Making History: Defending gold medalists Matthew PINSENT and Steven REDGRAVE of Great Britain proved they will be the one's to beat in the men's coxless pair, headlining the three teams to qualify for the semifinals scheduled to take place on Thursday, 25 July. Joining the British team in the semifinals will the French pair Michel ANDRIEUX and Jean-Christophe ROLLAND who clocked the best time in the preliminary heats finishing at 6:35.75. The Australian sweep team of David WEIGHTMAN and Robert SCOTT also advanced. Those boats that did not qualify will race in the repechage on Tuesday, 23 July. REDGRAVE, who has dominated the event since 1991, is looking to become the first rower to capture four consecutive gold medals in Olympic competition. REDGRAVE earned the gold in the men's quadruple sculls in 1984 and in the coxless pairs in 1988 and 1992.
"We were a bit disappointed with our start but we warmed up and had an acceleration period," said Matthew PINSENT. "We achieved what we wanted to do. We won the race."
Six Teams Advance to Semifinals: There were no surprises in the women's coxless pair event as the Australian, French and American teams dominated the field vying for spots in the semifinals to begin on Thursday. Other teams to advance were: Germany, the Netherlands, Russia, Romania, Canada and the People's Republic of China. World Champions Megan STILL and Kate SLATTER of Australia will need to fend off Americans Karen KRAFT and Missy SCHWEN who placed second to the Aussies at the World Championships and have been on a roll in 1996, finishing first at Lucerne. Christine GOSSE and Helene CORTIN of France placed second at Lucerne and will roundout the favored threesome in the sweep event.
"We always learn and improve, but we were relaxed and in control the whole time," said Missy SCHWEN. "We raced the race we had planned because otherwise we couldn't continue to learn anything."
Danish Team Advances: The 1995 World Championship team of Lars CHRISTENSEN and Martin HALDBO of Denmark are set for semifinal action on Lake Lanier, as the twosome posted a time of 6:48.75 to win their heat in the men's double sculls. Also qualifying were Norwegians Kjetil UNDSET and Steffen STOERSETH, the Italian team of Davide TAZZANO and Agostino ABBAGNALE and the team of Frederic KOWAL and Samuel BARATHAY from France. While the Danish team did not compete at the Lucerne regatta, the Italians and Norway proved they will be top competitors in Atlanta as they captured first and second respectively. Frenchman BARATHAY was world champion in 1993 and is in the hunt for his first Olympic medal.
Canadian Women Looking for Second Gold: After earning the gold medal at the 1992 Olympic Games in the women's coxless pair, the Canadian team of Marnie MCBEAN and Kathleen HEDDLE are ready to do the same in the women's double sculls competition in Atlanta. That goal is one step closer to becoming a reality as the world champions advanced to the semifinal action during the preliminaries at Lake Lanier on Sunday. Also qualifying was the Dutch crew of Irene EIJS and Eeke VAN NES as well as the teams from New Zealand, Ukraine, China, United States, Germany and Bulgaria. EIJS and VAN NES have continually sat in the shadow of the Canadian team finishing second to MCBEAN and HEDDLE at the 1995 World Championships and at the Lucerne regatta in June.
Australians Set to Defend Title: Defending gold medalists in the men's coxless four, Australia's "Awesome Foursome" clocked a time of 6:15.05 to advance to the semifinals set for Thursday, 25 July. The two-time defending World Championship Italian team will also be a team to watch in the sweep event as the squad also qualified for semifinal action. The Italians defeated the '92 gold medalists at Lucerne and will be looking to strip them of the title in Atlanta. Also qualifying was the British team of Rupert OBHOLZER, brothers Jonny and Greg SEARLE, Tim FOSTER who won their heat with a time of 6:14.74. The team won the world bronze in 1994 and silver one year later. Rounding out the nine qualifying teams were Romania, Norway, Croatia, Poland, Slovenia and France.
"We got a good start and we were in the race from the beginning," said Great Britain's Tim FOSTER. "It was a technical row. We had good rhythm and it was a good race. It is nice to have a race that reflects your training."
Laumann Upset in Preliminaries: Pre-Olympic favorite Silken LAUMANN had a taste of reality as the Canadian women's single sculler was denied advancement to the semifinals finishing second to Trine HANSEN of Denmark. LAUMANN led most of the race but was overtaken by the 1994 World Champion HANSEN just beyond the 1500m mark. With 250 meters to go, LAUMANN conceded and slowed her pace to save her strength for the repechage on Tuesday, handing the victory to HANSEN. Reigning World Champion Maria BRANDIN of Sweden rowed virtually uncontested in the first heat, qualifying for semifinal action. Joining HANSEN and BRANDIN as the top threesome in the single sculls was Yekaterina KHODOTOVICH of Belarus, who took first at the Lucerne Regatta.
Top Single Scullers Advance: Unlike the women's single scull event, there were no major upsets in the men's single sculls as Xeno MUELLER (SUI), Derek Porter (CAN), Thomas Lange (GER) and Vaclav CHALUPA (CZE) all advanced to the semifinals scheduled for Thursday, 25 July. LANGE is the two-time defending Olympic gold medalist winning in both Seoul and Barcelona. He finished second to PORTER at Lucerne and placed fifth at the World Championships in Tampere. Porter hopes to become an Olympic gold medalist as both a rower and a sculler as he won the stroke as a member of the Canadian eight in 1992. Expected to qualify on Tuesday for the semifinals will be current World Champion Iztok COP and Estonia's Juri JAASON, who won every race in 1995 until beaten by COP for the world title.
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