New Zealand sculls pair lead rowing gold rush at Paris Games

PARIS – Brooke Francis and Lucy Spoors are two supermums of their sport, especially when their young children are around to give them a boost as they row for gold.

On Aug 1, the New Zealand duo won the women’s double sculls title at the Paris Olympics, while Romania, the Netherlands and the United States were also victorious on a thrilling morning of racing at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.

Kicking off a period of just over an hour in which a barrage of medals were awarded, the Kiwi crew of Francis and Spoors held their nerve in a tight finish to edge out Romania in a time of 6min 50.45sec, grabbing gold by just 0.24 seconds.

The pair have both become mothers since the last Olympics in Tokyo in 2021, and they paid tribute to their children, who were watching from the stands, following their victory.

“I like to think that they were cheering us through the last 200m, but in reality they were probably eating crackers and watching Peppa Pig if they didn’t want to sit still,” joked Spoors, who has a son while Francis has a daughter.

“But they’re definitely our superpower... Since Tokyo, we’ve both believed we could win this race. It’s been a slow build, but to be here and finally do it in front of them, I can’t believe it.”

Romania went out fast in the men’s double sculls final but were quickly reined in by the Dutch crew, who took the lead around the midway point of the race and looked strong before being pulled back themselves.

Despite looking spent, the Romanians came roaring back to take the lead again, leaving their closest rivals in a furious battle for second place with the resurgent Ireland crew, who ultimately had to be content with bronze.

After a fourth place and one silver in the opening two races, the Netherlands finally made the top step of the podium in the women’s four final after a thrilling showdown with the British crew that saw them finish 0.18sec in front to grab gold. The Kiwis took bronze.

The day’s racing ended with the men’s four final, which the United States dominated almost from the start, brushing off a late challenge from New Zealand to finish in 5:49.03 for gold. Britain finished third.

Elsewhere, China’s Liu Yukun won gold in the men’s 50m rifle three positions before confidently proclaiming that he was probably a “genius” when it came to shooting.

The 27-year-old has been in sensational form in 2024, breaking the world record twice in two days at the Baku World Cup in May and he also topped qualification on July 31.

He racked up 463.6 points to win gold ahead of Ukraine’s Serhiy Kulish (461.3).

Liu said his dream Olympic debut was a collective effort by his team but when asked if he considered himself a genius, the shooter paused before answering: “Probably I am.”

Meanwhile, the men and women’s 20km walk races kicked off the athletics programme.

Italy’s Massimo Stano was bidding to become the first man to win back-to-back gold in the event after triumphing in Tokyo but he was beaten into an agonising fourth place, with Brian Pintado from Ecuador taking gold. It was Ecuador’s second Olympic title in the event, after Jefferson Perez in 1996.

In the women’s race, China’s Yang Jiayu produced a dominant performance to take gold, the fourth Chinese winner in the seven times the event has featured at the Olympics.

The men’s skiff medal race was abandoned after sailing officials decided that there was not enough wind to complete the 10-boat race. There was no immediate indication when the deciding race in the series would be rescheduled.

The women’s race, which was due to be held after the men’s, was also postponed. 

Meanwhile, reigning champions South Korea left almost no room for suspense in the men’s sabre team fencing event, beating Hungary and winning their third consecutive title. Already crowned on July 27 in the individual event, Oh Sang-uk delivered the coup de grace in a 45-41 win against the 2023 world champions.

It confirmed South Korea’s dominance in the event. The world No. 1s lost to the Hungarians in 2023 but were the world champions in 2022, 2019, 2018 and 2017.
REUTERS, AFP