LUCERNE, Switzerland -- Romania and
Australia pulled off stunning upsets on the final day of the World Rowing Championships on Sunday to capture the showcase
eights titles.
The Romanian men got their nose in front early and left the
field, including Olympic champion Britain and three-time world gold
medalist the United States, chasing them to the line.
Olympic bronze medalist Croatia was able to cut the
Romanians' lead to a quarter-length before running out of lake,
settling for the silver, while Germany took the bronze.
Only a gritty effort by the Australian women prevented the
Romanians from sweeping gold medals in both eights.
Like the men's race, the Aussie women took early control and
with 500 meters to row enjoyed a length advantage.
But in the last 300 meters, the Romanians mounted their
charge, nearly pulling level before a surprised Aussie crew
responded to the challenge to save the gold.
Catriona Roach, Sally Causby, Amber Halliday and Josephine
Lips added to the Australian gold medal haul by storming to victory
in the women's lightweight quadruple sculls in a world-best 6 minutes, 29.68 seconds.
The United States was a distant second, three seconds
adrift, while Germany took the bronze.
A strong final day with three wins and two third-place
finishes took Germany to the top of the medals table with five
golds, a silver and two bronzes.
Britain was second with three golds, two courtesy of James
Cracknell and Matthew Pinsent's unprecedented coxed and coxless
pairs double on Saturday, and a bronze.
Australia and Ireland were equal third with three golds.
Germany did most of its damage in the quadruple sculls, sweeping gold in both the men's and women's races.
In the women's quads, Olympic champion Germany got out in
front early and won with authority, more than a length clear of
New Zealand.
The German men were equally impressive, coming home
three-quarters of a length clear of the Dutch, who took silver
in a photo-finish over Italy.
As expected, the showdown in the lightweight men's fours
came down to a battle between Olympic champion France and
three-time world champion Denmark.
But that fight was for the silver as Austria upset the form
book surging across the line first in a time of 5:53.55, while
the Danes settled for silver in 5:54.36 just ahead of France on
5:55.55.
France made up for its disappointment with a fantastic
sprint in the men's coxed fours, going from fourth to first in
the final 500 meters to snatch gold. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories |
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