Women’s Single Sculls (W1x) - Final

Great Britain’s Victoria Thornley and Fie Udby Erichsen of Denmark both won their respective heats two days ago. Today they met for the first time this season to go after the European Championship title. Thornley comes to the single after medalling in the double at last year’s Olympic Games whild Erichsen medalled in the single at the London Olympics and has focused on this boat for the majority of her rowing career.

Shooting out at the start was Olympic Champion from the quad, Annekatrin Thiele of Germany with Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus also going out for a fast start. Both Thiele and Karsten had to come to this final through the repechage and it didn’t look like the extra race had done them any harm. But then Erichson moved into the lead as she moved through the middle of the race with Thornley having overtaken Karsten and now challenging Thiele. Thornley continued to move and she was eating up the third 500 like a single sculling pro. But the final sprint was still to come. Had Thornley gone too hard too soon? Erichson did not look like she could keep up with Thornley and now had to contend with Thiele who was sprinting for the line along with Karsten who was really winding it. Gold went to Thornley , Karsten, the incredible 44-year-old rower, had taken silver with Thiele coming through for bronze.

Results: GBR, BLR, GER, DEN, SWE, LAT

Victoria Thornley, Great Britain, gold
“I really bided my time until the 1250m mark. Then I really tried to push away from everyone else. I learned a lot of the last years. Rio was a really big confidence booster. Great, great crowd. It feels like really something special here. Fantastic atmosphere and racing.”

Annekatrin Thiele, Germany, bronze
“I was surprised I was first at the 1000m. I must practice the last 250m. I am proud of the medal today. The wind is very difficult because it kept changing directions. I am happy to row here today because it’s our training camp area and the crowd here is amazing.”

B-final

Spain’s Virginia Diaz Rivas shot out at the start with the quickest pace. Diaz Rivas is getting a reputation for fast starts so the question was, could she hold it through the race. At the half way point Diaz Rivas remained in the lead, but Roos De Jong of the Netherlands was moving through the field. De Jong had raced to a photo finish in yesterday’s repechage and missed out on making the final by just 0.05 of a second. By the third 500 De Jong was up with Diaz Rivas with Greece also motoring.  Aikaterini Nikolaidou of Greece ended up in the single after her doubles partner pulled out due to illness. In the final sprint De Jong came through to take first with Greece in second.

Results: NED, GRE, ESP, AUT, CZE, FIN