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Olympic Rowing Recaps - 23 July (Day 4)

H2- / Coxless Pair

USA, Italy, Croatia Head List of Final Qualifiers:

Despite strong headwinds, the United States' Michael PETERSON and Jonathan HOLLAND clocked the fastest time in the men's coxless pair repechage (7:02.13) to head the list of crews qualifying for Thursday's semifinals. The Italian team of Marco PENNA and Walter BOTTEGA lead from start to finish in their heat to capture first, while the Croatians relied on a late charge to win their race. The Italian crew finished third at Lucerne in June and was fourth at the 1995 World Championships. The U.S. crew, together for only four months, finished fourth at Lucerne. Other crews to gain entry into the semifinals were Lithuania, Argentina, Belgium, Bulgaria, Austria and New Zealand.

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"We knew we were in command at the start of the second thousand so we put it on autopilot," said the U.S.'s Jonathan HOLLAND. "We were far enough in front so that if someone made a move we could react."


F2- / Women's Coxless Pair

Czechs Take Command for Semifinal Position:

The Czech Republic's women's coxless pair took command in the repechage and didn't look back - guaranteeing them a place in semifinal races on Thursday. Sabina TELELNSKA and Hana DARIUSOVA finished the race at 8:01.50, 10 seconds faster than the Republic of South Africa, which also qualified for the semifinals with its second-place finish. Great Britain rounded out the top three advancing crews.


H2x / Men's Double Sculls

Barcelona Gold Medalist Propels Crew to Victory:

The Canadian crew of Michael FORGERON and Todd HALLETT was one of eight boats to take advantage of their "second chance" in the men's double sculls repechage to advance to the semifinals. FORGERON is no stranger to Olympic competition as he was a member of the Canadian's gold medal eight team in Barcelona. The repechages were exciting from start to finish with Austria, Germany, Latvia, and Canada all finishing first in their respective heats. The German crew of Sebastian MAYER and Roland OPFER captured the bronze at Lucerne, just ahead of the Canadians. The Spanish crew, who placed fourth at Lucerne, was denied advancement to the semifinals finishing third in their heat. The remaining crews that qualified in the men's double sculls were Slovakia, Belgium, Croatia, and Australia.


F2X / Women's Double Sculls

Kristine(s) Lead Norway to Semis:

Norwegians Kristine BJERKNES and Kristine KLAVENESS, not happy with their fourth-place finish in the preliminaries, took control of the women's double sculls repechage and earned a good position in the semifinals on Thursday. With a time of 7:43.75, the crew finished 4.27 ahead of the Latvia boat of Sanita OZOLINA and Liene LUTERE who also advanced to the semifinals with their second-place finish. Joining the two crews will be the Italian women's doubles crew of Erika BELLO and Marianna BARELLI.


H4- / Men's Coxless Four

Close Race Highlights Action in Men's Coxless Four:

While the Chinese men's coxless four led the pack for the majority of the race, it was the Germans who had the strength to pull it out, winning the repechage by less than one second. The crew of Stefan FORSTER, Ike LANDVOIGHT, Claas FISCHER, and Stefan SCHOLZ, just missed qualifying in the preliminaries but took advantage of one more race to prepare themselves for the semifinals. China and the United States finished second and third respectively to also advance.


F1X / Women's Single Sculls

LAUMANN Sets Up for the Semifinals:

After losing in the preliminaries, something some athletes would have considered a setback, Silken LAUMANN found the chance to "try new things" during her repechage and easily advanced to the semifinals. The four-time Olympic starter pulled ahead early and maintained the lead to win her race. The United States' Ruth DAVIDON also qualified for the semifinals, winning her heat by almost eight seconds while Romania's Elisabeta LIPA was the top finisher in her repechage. Other countries to qualify boats included Bulgaria, Great Britain, Belgium, China, France and Finland.

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"It was a good race. I really just wanted to get it out of the way," said LAUMANN. "I tried to look at it as an opportunity rather than having to race another race."

"It wasn't an easy race. During the second 500 meters it was really windy and rough," said DAVIDON. "My oars kept digging deep and it felt really sloppy. I kept telling myself not to give up."


H1X / Men's Single Sculls

Eight Advance to Semifinals in Single Sculls:

The 1995 World Champion Iztok COP (SLO) needed one more race in the men's single scull to qualify for the semifinals and he took full advantage of the situation. The Slovenian finished four seconds ahead of Great Britain's Peter HAINING, who will also race on Thursday, 25 July in the semifinals. Robert WADDELL of New Zealand, Sergio FERNANDEZ of Argentina and Fredrik BEKKEN of Norway will all see semifinal action winning their races in the men's single sculls repechages. The United States' Cyrus BEASLEY, despite suffering a "crab" during his start, finished second to the Argentinean capturing a spot in the semifinals and edging out the Italian boat in one of the closest races of the repechages. Others to advance were Aly IBRAHIM of Egypt and Horst NUSSBAUMER of Austria.

See story.

"There was a strong headwind today," said Great Britain's HAINING. "With a headwind you must finish off the scull and it takes a lot of discipline to do that."


This is an official publication of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Sports Publications Department.


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