Twigg on target, golden era ends
For the first time in 21 years, New Zealand won’t feature in men’s single sculls medals
New Zealand’s heavyweight rowing contingent endured a mixed day of racing at the Tokyo Olympics, with three boats bowing out of medal contention and two female crews progressing. First, the good news. Emma Twigg underlined her medal credentials — and enhanced her case for gold — by powering into the women’s single sculls semifinals at Sea Forest Waterway.
Repeating her efforts in the heat, Twigg obliterated the field, and despite cruising the last 500m, still finished 7.14s faster than Switzerland’s second-placed Jeannine Gmelin in 7m 54.96s — the second fastest overall from the quarter-finals.
Iran’s Nazanin Malaei caused something of a surprise by pushing into third to qualify for the semis.
Attending her fourth Games, Twigg continues to look poised, in complete control to this point, in her quest for an elusive Olympic medal after two previous fourth-place finishes. At London 2012, she missed bronze by 3.6s, and in Rio de Janeiro four years later, the margin was an agonising 0.3s.
This time, the 34-year-old appears destined to challenge for gold.
New Zealand’s golden run in the men’s single sculls came to an abrupt end as Jordan Parry dropped out of medal contention in his quarter-final.
Parry, having beaten two-time Olympic champion Mahe Drysdale to the boat, finished fourth in his quarter-final almost 6s behind German winner Oliver Zeidler.
The Tauranga 25-year-old, making his Olympic debut and competing in his first international event as a single sculler because of the Covid-19 pandemic, needed to finish in the top three to progress, but after a slow start, he could not reel in Lithuania’s Mindaugas Griskonis in third.
Parry’s time of 7m 18.48s would have been enough to progress from the other quarter-finals but he is now left to compete in the C/D semifinal.
The result closes New Zealand’s illustrious chapter in the men’s single sculls, with golds in 2000, 2012 and 2016 — and Drysdale’s 2008 Beijing bronze — typifying recent success.
Women’s double scullers Brooke Donoghue and Hannah Osborne followed their strong first-up display to become the first New Zealand boat to book their spot in a final.
Donoghue and Osborne were second in their semifinal, beaten by impressive young Romanian crew Ancuta Bodnar and Simona Radis, who will be favoured for gold after holding off the Kiwis by 4.74s.
The Netherlands won the second semifinal, with Donoghue and Osborne recording the third-fastest time of the two semis.
Men’s double scullers Chris Harris and Jack Lopas could not replicate the women’s efforts, as they finished fourth in their semifinal — 1.58s behind the third-placed Polish crew.
The New Zealand women’s quad sculls were the first boat eliminated from medal contention after finishing third in their repechage.
Olivia Loe, Eve Macfarlane, Georgia Nugent-O’Leary and Ruby Tew finished fourth in their heat on Friday — seven seconds behind winners Germany — and therefore needed a top-two placing to progress from yesterday’s repechage.
They dug in, but the New Zealand boat was always off the pace — 1.49s back at the halfway point before finishing more than three seconds behind race winners Australia.
New Zealand managed to haul in Great Britain over the closing stages into third but were still well adrift of the second-placed Italians, who also progress.
The result — in an event contested at the Games for the first time since 1992 — is particularly brutal for Loe, the two-time double sculls world champion, after being replaced in the double boat favoured to medal and moved into the quad.
The quad sculls will race again in the B final, where there are no medals on the line.