French Sure of Coxed Four Gold

The French world champion men's coxed four may been behind the medal pack for the most of the final at the World Championships in Lucerne at the weekend but they always knew the race was theirs, says stroke Sydney Chouraqui.

The French had sat in fourth for the first 1500 metres, only a fantastic final sprint powering them to the lead.

But as Chouraqui tells it, it was all part of the game plan.

"We wanted it! We started off behind but we knew we could come back whenever we wanted," he said.

"We believed in it right from the start. Even if we were behind at the start we knew we could get them."

But the race was extremely close, with just 1.8 seconds separating the first four boats.

Cox Christophe Lattaignant said the noise of the crowd in the final stretch to the line was a big boost for his team.

"It was bow ball to bow ball and I think all of a sudden they heard all the noise and we got the bowball infront," he said,

"(Bowman) Gilles Bosquet said 'we're in front' and the pace just increased and increased."

Lattaignant had a successful championships, also winning gold as the cox of the lightweight men's eight. That meant a double dunking for the 29-year-old in the Rotsee.

The PE teacher is no stranger to gold medals though. He also won gold in the coxed four at the 1997 World Championships in Aiguebelette, France.