Canada, New Zealand Win Rowing Golds; US Leaves Empty-handed

Sports

July 30th, 7:10am

Asharq Al-Awsat

Lisa Roman, Kasia Gruchalla-Wesierski, Christine Roper, Andrea Proske, Susanne Grainger, Madison Mailey, Sydney Payne, Avalon Wasteneys and Kristen Kit of Canada celebrate winning the gold medal in the women's rowing eight final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 30, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Canada ended American dominance in the women's eight and New Zealand won a pair of gold medals Friday on the final day of rowing at the Tokyo Games. Canada's start-to-finish victory in the women's eight ended a run of three consecutive Olympic gold medals for the US. The Americans were dropped by the leaders at the start and never recovered in a fourth-place finish, reported The Associated Press. Emma Twigg of New Zealand won gold in the women's single sculls after finishing fourth at the London Games in 2012 and in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. She looked back over her shoulder as she approached the finish, then paddled a few extra strokes just to make sure she was clear. The Kiwis matched Twigg's gold in the men's eight, holding off Germany by 0.96 seconds in a sprint to the finish. The US men finished fourth, meaning the American rowers leave the Sea Forest Waterway without a medal. Stefanos Ntouskos of Greece made a strong closing burst over the final 250 meters to win the men’s single sculls.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3105961/canada-new-zealand-win-rowing-golds-us-leaves-empty-handed