A total of 23 nations won medals today on the final day of racing at the 2010 World Rowing Under 23 Championships in Brest, Belarus. Germany finish at the top of the medal standings with a total of 12 medals, five of them gold. After winning two gold medals yesterday, Germany won another three golds today in the Lightweight Men's Quadruple Sculls (BLM4x), the Men's Single Sculls (BM1x) and the Men's Eight (BM8+).
The United States finished as the second nation overall with a total of seven medals, three of them gold all won in women's sweep events. After winning the Women's Four (BW4-) and the Women's Pair (BW2-) yesterday, the USA added a gold in the Women's Eight (BW8+).
Italy finishes in third position with a total of three gold medals having won two yesterday and a third one today in the Men's Four (BM4-). Greece showed its form in lightweight sculling today collecting two gold medals in both the men's and in the women's lightweight double event. This is the second Under-23 world title for the women's crew of Triantafyllia Kalampoka and Christina Giazitzidou. Great Britain leaves this regatta with one gold in the Lightweight Men's Four (BLM4-).
Alena Kryvasheyenka from host nation Belarus won a gold medal in the Lightweight Women's Single Sculls (BLW1x). Iran's Mohsen Shadi Naghadeh took a second Under-23 world title in the lightweight single. Croatia's Men's Quadruple Sculls (BM4x) have been winning at senior level during the 2010 Rowing World Cup series against the world's best quad crews, and today took a second Under-23 world title in this event. Canada's Patricia Obee competed in the A-final of the lightweight double in the first Final race of the day before going on to win bronze in one of the last races of the day, the Women's Eight (BW8+).
Over 880 athletes competed at the 2010 World Rowing Under 23 Championships, representing a total of 58 nations that have entered. Germany and USA brought the largest teams to Belarus, each with 69 athletes distributed among 21 boats.
The Brest regatta course is one of the training grounds of the two-time Olympic Champion and six-time World Champion single sculler Ekaterina Karsten-Khodotovitch. Karsten was Belarus' first athlete to win an Olympic medal, which made her a national hero and made rowing a major sport in Belarus.
The World Rowing Under 23 Championships is a major stepping stone for athletes participating through FISA's Development Programme. This year, 40 athletes from 11 developing rowing nations are benefitting from the support of the local organising committee and FISA to enable their participation. Several participants from these countries already raced in Lucerne at the final stage of the Rowing World Cup. Among them Paraguay's Gabriela Mosqueira, who made her first appearance on the World Rowing scene at the 2008 World Rowing Junior Championships and already has several successes at continental events.
In 2011, the World Rowing Under 23 Championships will be held from 21 to 24 July in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.