Men's Eight (M8+) -Final

The Olympic Champions, Germany, shot out in lane 5 to take a slight lead over Poland and Germany2. By the 1000m mark the field began to spread out a bit, but with Poland and Germany2 practically neck-and-neck. As Germany1 began to earn a leading advantage, the real battle was now going on for the lesser medals.

Coxed by Martin Sauer, Germany1 crossed the line in first. Then came three boats in a line. With just a 0.31 second spread, the medals had gone to Poland with silver and Germany2 with bronze. France had missed out on a medal by a mere fraction. What a finish to this regatta!

Results:  GER1, POL, GER2, FRA, CHN

Gold – Martin Sauer – Germany1

It was a really long weekend as it was part of the selection. To see the boys with whom I have been training all winter compete against each other is not easy, but it is part of our job. It was unpleasant to race against another German eight as we know what they are capable of.

Bronze – Peter Kluge  – Germany2

It was very interesting to race against a German eight as we know each other so well. We are a big centralised group so we train together. We were the underdogs and we did everything we could. The biggest difference was their physical strength.