Tokyo Olympics 2020 Day 1 Rowing Results: USA Edges Close to History; New Zealand and Netherlands Dominate

The Tokyo Olympics 2020 has kicked off in a spectacular fashion. The opening ceremony was fabulous and the events are already taking place at a tremendous pace. Saturday was technically Day 1 at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 and here are all the results from the rowing events. 

Rowing is one of the water sports at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. There are 14 events that will take place at the Sea Forest Waterway in Tokyo and all of them will conclude before the end of July. So here are the rowing results from Day 1. 

Men’s and Women’s single sculls repechage results 

The men’s and women’s single sculls event took place even before the opening ceremony at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. These were six heat events in each discipline through which a few rowers directly qualified for the final by placing first. 

Following the single sculls heats, the repechage events were held on Saturday at 8 am (local time) to offer quarter-final and semi-final spots to the rowers. There were three repechage races for both men and women in the single sculls. 

Women’s single sculls repechage

Paraguay’s Alejandra Alonso and Chinese Taipei’s Yi-Ting Huang finished first and second in the first repechage race in women’s sculls. Alonso (8:08.91) and Huang (8:11.56) both booked quarterfinal spots in the first repechage race. 

Felice Chow from Trinidad and Tobago clinched first place in the second repechage race in the single sculls. Chow clocked an 8:15.94 in the 2000m race, while Hyejeong Jeong of South Korea finished second with a time of 8:26.73.

These two races awarded four quarterfinal spots to the rowers. As for the final repechage race, it was won by Milena Venega Cancio of Cuba, with Hung Wing Yan Winne of Hong Kong finishing second. 

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Men’s single sculls repechage

Similar to the women’s event, the men’s repechage also featured three races. The first race was won by Quentin Antognelli of Monaco with a time of 7:34.14. Mohammad Al-Khafaji of Iraq finished second with a 7:41.72 to book a quarterfinal place along with Antognelli.

The second race was won by Czech Republic’s Jan Fleissner (7:29.90), with Bermuda’s Dara Alizadeh (7:35.90) finishing second to earn quarterfinal spots. 

The final repechage event in the men’s singles was won by Zimbabwe’s Peter Purcell-Gilpin followed by Saudi Arabia’s Husein Alireza in second place. 

Men’s pair and women’s pair events results (Heats)

The men’s and women’s pair events got underway on Day 1 and saw a lot of wonderful races. 

Women’s pair

Canada (7:18.34), Romania (7:20.36), and Italy (7:22.79) all progressed from Heat 1 and booked semi-final spots in the event. 

In Heat 2, Australia (7:21.75), the Russian Olympic Committee (7:23.39), and Great Britain (7:23.98) booked a semi-final spot with a Top 3 finish. 

In the final Heat race, New Zealand (7:19.08) finished first, Denmark (7:22.86) finished second, and Spain (7:23.14) filled in the final quarterfinal spot. 

Men’s pair

The first race in the men’s pair was won by Romania with a blistering time of 6:33.86. The Netherlands finished second with 6:36.42, while Serbia finished third with 6:43.18 on the clock. 

Heat 2 saw Australia taking the win with a time of 6:42.74. Italy finished exactly six seconds behind them in 6:48.74, while New Zealand came up third with a time of 6:56.53. 

The final heat race in the men’s pair rowing event was won by Croatia (6:32.41). Denmark finished second (6:36.93), while Canada finished third (6:40.99). All three teams earned semi-final spots. 

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Men’s and women’s four rowing events results (Heats)

The men’s and women’s four rowing events awarded qualifications in a different way. The top two times in each race got a direct qualification to the finals, whereas the remaining competitors were moved to the repechage in search of another chance. 

Women’s four

The Netherlands won the first Heat race of the women’s four with a time of 6:33.47. China finished second with a time of 6:38.54 and qualified for the finals of this event along with the Dutch nation. 

As for the second heat race, Australia won it with a nail-biting finish. Australia clocked a time of 6:28.76, while Ireland finished second with a time of 6:28.99. Only two hundredths of a second split these two competitors. 

Men’s four

The first heat race of the men’s four was won by Australia with a time of 5:54.27. The United States finished second behind the Aussies with a time of 5:57.27 and marched into the finals. 

Great Britain won the second heat race by going 5:55.36 in the 2000m race. Italy finished 2.3 seconds behind  (5:57.67)GBR and earned their ticket to the finals. 

Men’s eight and women’s eight rowing events results (Heats)

The men’s eight and the women’s eight were the final rowing events on Day 1. This is a team race and demands maximum effort from the rowers. Only the first-place winners of the heat advanced to the finals. The rest will take part in repechage races. 

Women’s eight

New Zealand won the first heat race in the women’s eight with a thrilling finish. The New Zealander’s qualified for the final with a time of 6:07.65, just .32 seconds ahead of the Canadian’s, who finished second. 

Team USA won the second Heat race with a time of 6:08.69. This is historic as the women’s ‘eight team’ is eying a fourth consecutive gold in this event. The USA is into the finals and is one win away from creating history. 

Men’s eight

The first heat race in the men’s eight was won by the Germans with a time of 5:28.95. On the other hand, Netherlands won the three boat Heat 2 with a time of 5:30.66. They both are now into the finals in the men’s eight. 

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