Paris 2024 Olympic Games Preview : the Pairs

This is certainly the boat where trust in your partner is paramount. Moreso than a single, the pair is one tippy boat. Two rowers, only one oar each, every movement of each of the rower’s body and oar impacts the other rower. Their movements and power output has to be completely in synch for this boat to go well.

Men’s Pair

Reigning Olympic Champions: Martin Sinkovic, Valent Sinkovic, Croatia

Reigning World Champions: Roman Roeoesli, Andrin Gulich, Switzerland

Overall 2024 World Rowing Cup winner: Switzerland

There was Redgrave and Pinsent, there was Ginn and Tomkins, there was Pinsent and Cracknell and there was Bond and Murray. In recent years the men’s pair has often been dominated by one boat. Leading up to Tokyo that boat was the Croatian brothers, Valent and Martin Sinkovic. The brothers then jumped in the double post-Olympics, only to come back to the pair earlier this year. The reigning Olympic Champions are back to give it another shot. Their results, however, have not been dominating the 2024 season. A silver medal at World Cup III in June, though, shows their back on track.

In the lead at World Cup III was the Swiss duo of Roman Roeoesli and Andrin Gulich. Roeoesli was in the double at Tokyo and teamed up with the younger Gulich in the pair last year. They have medalled in all of their races since and at last years World Championships the duo took gold. But they are by no means clear favourites. At World Cup II, Switzerland finished in third with Great Britain’s Tom George and Oliver Wynne-Griffith in first and Spain’s Jaime Canalejo Pazos and Javier Garcia Ordonez in second. Canalejo and Garcia have stuck together since Tokyo where they raced in the final.

It will be interesting to see who Romania boats in Paris. Marius Cozmiuc and Sergiu Bejan were fourth at the 2023 World Rowing Championships but Bejan has been spotted back in the eight and Cozmiuc hasn’t been spotted all season. Keep an eye out for New Zealand and the United States. They are regularly up there in the pairs, but have lacked consistency through this Olympic cycle.

Women’s Pair

Reigning Olympic Champions: Grace Prendergast, Kerri Williams, New Zealand

Reigning World Champions: Ymkje Clevering, Veronique Meester, Netherlands

Overall 2024 World Rowing Cup winner: Netherlands

Olympic Champions New Zealand (Grace Prendergast and Kerri Williams) stuck around long enough to win the 2022 World Rowing Championships and then Prendergast retired with Williams going into the four. This left a hole at the head of the field as the 2023 season got under way. Grabbing it wholeheartedly was Jessica Morrison and Annabelle McIntyre of Australia. The duo had raced to gold in the four at Tokyo and doubled up in the pair only to make the B-final. The Dutch crew of Ymkje Clevering and Veronique Meester, who came second at the 2022 World Rowing Championships to the kiwis, won ahead of Australia and have not been at the top of the field, or very near it, ever since. At the 2024 World Rowing Cup II, they beat Australia by a good solid 3 ½ seconds.

The Dutch missed World Cup III, with Morrison and McIntyre coming back to take the win. Coming in second to the Aussies was Ireland. Fiona Murtagh and Aifric Keogh were in the Olympic bronze medal four at Tokyo.

A week before World Cup III, Denmark Hedvig Laeke Rasmussen and Fie Udby Erichsen qualified the pair for the Olympics by winning the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta, a feat they had done once before in 2021. This will be 39-year-old Erichsen’s fourth Olympics. She raced in the pair with Rasmussen at Tokyo, but is best known for winning silver in the single at the London Olympics. Interestingly Erichsen has always gone to the Olympics by qualifying through the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta. The duo were third at World Cup III.

We haven’t seen much of Roxana Anghel and Ioana Vrinceanu this season. But after taking a bronze at last year’s World Championships and then winning the 2024 European Championships, the must be in contention for a good Olympic finish.

Olympic quota places: 13 each for the men’s and women’s pair

Total number of athletes: 52

Qualification pathway for men and women:

11 quota places each at the 2023 World Rowing Championships:

Men: SUI, GBR, IRL, ROU, USA, RSA, ESP, AUS, NZL, ITA, CRO

Women: NED, AUS, ROU, IRL, CHI, USA, GRE, ESP, GBR, LTU, CZE

2 quota places each at the 2024 Final Olympic qualification regatta:

Men: GER, LTU

Women: DEN, NZL.

Want more?

2023 World Rowing Championships – Women’s Pair A-Final : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MRH4_HoCTI

2023 World Rowing Championships – Men’s Pair A-Final : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKa8MdCybZA