U.S. women take Olympic gold in rowing
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The U.S. women’s eight won the gold medal for the first time since 1984 and the men’s eight rowed to a bronze Sunday, the final day of the rowing competition at the Shunyi Olympic Rowing/Canoeing Park.
The women’s eight of coxswain Mary Whipple (Sacramento), Caryn Davies, Caroline Lind, Susan Francia, Anna Cummins, Eleanor Logan, Anna Goodale, Lindsay Shoop and Erin Cafaro (Modesto) led the race from the start, finishing at 6:05.34 to defeat the Netherlands by 1.88 seconds. Defending Olympic champion Romania finished third in 6:07.25.
“Obviously, we wanted to be ahead,” Cafaro told U.S. Rowing. “We got faster every 500 meters, or at least it felt like that to us.”
The U.S. women steadily built their lead to win the country’s first gold medal in the event since the 1984 Los Angeles Games.
“Before we left Princeton, we gathered and watched that 1984 race,” Whipple said. “I made the call halfway through the race saying that it was just like 1984 and that we couldn’t let them down. Then we just motored ahead.”
The men’s eight of coxswain Marcus McElhenney, Bryan Volpenhein, Josh Inman, Steven Coppola, Dan Walsh, Wyatt Allen, Micah Boyd, Matt Schnobrich and Beau Hoopman missed the silver medal by 0.23 seconds.
Canada led the race from start to finish, winning with 5:23.89. Great Britain took second in 5:25.11, followed by the U.S. in 5:25.34.
“I’m really happy,” Volpenhein said. “I was really excited to get out there today. I’m not disappointed with bronze. It’s always good to come away with a medal.”
The women’s quadruple sculls crew finished fifth. China took gold, Great Britian silver and Germany bronze. The men’s quadruple sculls crew also finished fifth. Poland won gold, Italy silver and France bronze.
-- Greg Johnson