Jaanson Defeats Cop in Slovenian Sprint

Jueri Jaanson sprinted to victory on Sunday in the third edition of the Cop Challenger regatta outracing World and Olympic champions in the process.

The 35 year old Estonian proved stronger than all three of this years World Championships single scull medallists over the 200 metre sprint race that took place in the heart of the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana last weekend.

Regatta Organiser and 2001 World Championships silver medallist Itzok Cop fell overboard into the cold waters of the Ljubljanica river seconds after crossing the finish line behind former world champion Jaanson to take second place.

2001 single sculls World Champion Olaf Tufte of Norway finished third just ahead of this year’s single sculls bronze World Championships medallist Vaclav Chalupa of the Czech Republic.

A total of eight scullers competed in the sprint race including world double sculls champions Akos Haller and Tibor Peto from Hungary, Olympic eights champion Luka Grubor of Great Britain and German Olympian Stefan Roehnert.

Past winners of this event include Alessio Sartori of Italy in 1997 and native Slovenian Luka Spik in 1998. Olympic gold medallist Iztok Cop has never won the regatta that bears his name.