Men’s Single Sculls (M1x) – Finals

A-Final

This boat class had to go through heats, quarterfinals, semifinals and then to today’s final to find the gold medallist. Lined up was the World Champion from 2018, Kjetil Borch of Norway, the 2019 European Champion, Oliver Zeidler of Germany as well as World medallist Angel Fournier Rogriguez of Cuba. From the semifinals though it was Denmark’s Sverri Nielsen who had recorded the fastest time.

At the start Zeidler looked like he missed the start sound and came out a bit slower with Nielsen in one lane over shooting out. Zeidler didn’t take long to catch up with Borch very much in the pace. Zeidler has only been rowing for three years and they question was could he handle these rough conditions. Zeidler raced a strong 32 with the leader Nielsen at 34 and Borch on 33. Nielsen continued to move away from the rest of the field. He has never medalled in this boat class, although he did come fourth at the European Championships. Maybe today was his day. Nielsen was still in the lead going into the second half of the race with Fournier now finding another gear and overtaking Great Britain, Norway and Germany to get into second.

Nielsen now had a clear water lead. But the crews were closing. Nielsen went to 35, Fournier followed suit. But zooming down the outside was Pilip Pavukou of Belarus. He was at 38 and giving it his all. Nielsen had earned his first medal and he’d made it gold. Pavukou took silver and Fournier earned bronze.

Results: DEN, BLR, CUB, GBR1, GER, NOR

Sverri Nielsen, Denmark, gold
“It’s great! I’ve been in the A-Final a couple of times but always a little bit off the pace. So to be on the podium is awesome and to win is even better! I think that these were the right conditions for me and it’s great to see all my training pay off.”

Pilip Pavukou, Belarus, silver
“It was a good race today. With the results, I had at Plovdiv, Lucerne and now Poznan I’m am very happy.”

Angel Fournier Rodriguez, Cuba, bronze
“The wind was bothering me and so was the heat but in spite of that, I am very happy with the result. It is a very high level with Norway, Germany, and Denmark, so I am very proud of my result.”

Re-watch the race here

B-final

Robert Manson of New Zealand was the next fastest from yesterday’s semifinal and as the World Best Time holder in this boat class he must have been the favourite to win. But it was Azerbaijan and Poland that got away the quickest. These two boats went neck and neck through the first half of the race. Then Manson began to move up with Mindaugas Griskonis of Lithuania starting to move. Griskonis has an amazing sprint and is always one to watch, albeit sometimes a little inconsistent. Rating 37, then 39 Manson took the lead and held it to the end.

Results: NZL1, LTU, POL, FRA1, AZE, ITA1