SANITA PUSPURE’S OLYMPIC medal hopes remain on course as she eased into the semi-finals of the women’s single sculls this morning.
Puspure’s quarter-final was brought forward to this morning with inclement weather expected tomorrow, but the Cork rower eased to victory ahead of Kara Kohler of the United States in a time of 7:58.30.
A top-three finish was all that was necessary to qualify, but Puspure secured first place with a strong finish, reeling in Kohler in the third quarter of the race and stroking clear in the closing 500 metres.
Her semi-final is slated for next Wednesday morning.
“The start was messy again so I have to work on that”, Puspure told RTÉ post-race. “This is my first Olympic semi-final which is a step forward from the last two Olympics.
"This is my first #Olympics semi-final so that's a step forward from the last two Olympics"@SanitaPuspure on sealing a semi-final place in the women's single sculls #RTESport #Tokyo2020
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) July 25, 2021
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“I just need to relax. Too eager, and when you’re tense it is not as smooth as you want to and it’s hard to pick up from there.”
Puspure’s result continued a fine morning on the water for the Irish rowers: third-place repechage finishes for women’s pair Monika Dukarska and Aileen Crowley and lightweight pair Aoife Casey and Margret Cremen secured their progression to the semi-finals.
Philip Doyle and Ronan Byrne, however, missed out on the medal race in the men’s double sculls with a sixth-place finish in their semi-final.
Results
Women’s Single Sculls
1. S PUSPURE (IRELAND) 7:58.30
2. K KOHLER (USA) 7:59.39
3. Y JIANG (CHINA) 8:00.01
4. J ARSIC (SERBIA) 8:09.37
5. A ALONSO (PARAGUAY) 8:29.80
6. WYW HUNG (HONG KONG) 8:36.37