Racing for the 2020 Olympic Regatta begins on Friday, July 23, in Tokyo, Japan. Below, we preview the men's pair.
2019 WORLD CHAMPION - Sinkovic/Sinkovic - CRO
2016 OLYMPIC CHAMPION - Murray/Bond - NZL
2020 SCHEDULE
Heats on Saturday, Rep on Sunday, Semis on Tuesday, Finals on Thursday
ENTRIES - 13
AUSTRALIA - Sam Hardy | Joshua Hicks
BELARUS - Dzmitry Furman | Siarhei Valadzko
CANADA - Kai Langerfeld | Conlin McCabe
CROATIA - Martin Sinkovic | Valent Sinkovic
DENMARK - Joachim Sutton | Frederic Vystavel
FRANCE - Guillaume Turlan | Thibaud Turlan
ITALY - Giovanni Abagnale | Marco di Costanzo
NETHERLANDS - Niki van Sprang | Guillaume Krommenhoek
NEW ZEALAND - Stephen Jones | Brook Robertson
ROMANIA - Marius-Vasile Cozmiuc | Ciprian Tudosa
SERBIA - Martin Mackovic | Milos Vasic
SOUTH AFRICA - Luc Daffarn | Jake Green
SPAIN - Jaime Canalejo | Javier Garcia
LINZ 2019 RECAP
The Sinkovic brothers from Croatia got out quickly and took a one length lead through the 500, with the New Zealand pair of Thomas Murray and Michael Brake in second over both Australia (Sam Hardy and Joshua Hicks) and Italy (Matteo Lodo and Giuseppe Vicino). The margins on the top four crews separated a bit in the second quarter, with Croatia breaking open water over the the Kiwis, and Australia taking a length on Italy. Croatia continued to dominate the field in the second half of the race, winning by a length over New Zealand, with Australia taking bronze over Italy, Spain, and France.
Watch the final here.
2021 SEASON RECAP
WORLD CUP I
Four Tokyo qualified crews raced the final in Zagreb, with the home favorites Sinkovic brothers dominating to win by six seconds over the new French pair of Thibaud and Guillaume Turlan, Spain, and Belarus.
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
Croatia won again in Varese, but it was close over Italians Lodo and Vicino, who have since moved to the men's four event for the Games. Serbia and Romania were also in the mix, both within three seconds of Croatia, with the Dutch and French crews rounding out the A Final.
FOQR
The two qualification spots for Tokyo were won by The Netherlands and Denmark.
WORLD CUP II
With the absence of Croatia, Serbians Martin Mackovic and Milos Vasic won by just under a length over three tightly packed crews for second through fourth. Romania, France, and Belarus were the top finishers for crews qualified for Tokyo.
WORLD CUP III
The final World Cup for 2021 had only two qualified men's pairs, and once again Croatia got the win in dominating fashion, with the new Italian pair of Giovanni Abagnale and Marco di Costanzo finishing in fourth, some ten seconds behind Croatia.
USA PROSPECTS
No USA entry qualified for Tokyo Olympic Games.
MEDAL PICKS
While there are certainly no locks to win in Tokyo, Croatia are the defending champions and unbeaten in 2021. That, coupled with two of the top four from Linz opting to race in different events this year (NZL in the 8+ and ITA in the M4-) and Croatia are the team to beat in Tokyo. Behind them, the remaining podium spots are could be won by several crews. Australia and Canada should be in the mix, but haven't raced since the final in Linz, so predicting their form is tricky. Then Serbia is the only other pair to have won a World Cup this year, but one of their rowers tested positive for COVID-19 upon arrival in Japan, so their status is unclear. Then Romania, Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, France, and Spain will be in the running for the A Final and possibly a podium finish.
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