Racing for the 2020 Olympic Regatta begins on Friday, July 23, in Tokyo, Japan. Below, we preview the women's lightweight double.
2019 WORLD CHAMPION - McBride/Kiddle - NZL
2016 OLYMPIC CHAMPION - Paulis/Head - NED
2020 SCHEDULE
Heats on Saturday, Rep on Sunday, Semis on Tuesday, Finals on Thursday
ENTRIES - 18
ARGENTINA - Milka Kraljev | Evelyn Silvestro
AUSTRIA - Valentina Cavallar | Louisa Altenhuber
BELARUS - Alena Furman | Ina Nikulina
CANADA - Jill Moffatt | Jenny Casson
FRANCE - Claire Bové | Laura Tarantola
GREAT BRITAIN - Emily Craig | Imogen Grant
GUATEMALA - Yulisa Lopez | Jennieffer Zuniga
INDONESIA - Mutiara Rahma Putri | Melani Putri
IRELAND - Aoife Casey | Margaret Cremen
ITALY - Valentina Rodini | Federica Cesarini
JAPAN - Chiaki Tomita | Ayami Oishi
NETHERLANDS - Marieke Keijser | Ilse Paulis
ROMANIA - Ionela-Livia Cozmiuc | Gianina-Elena Beleaga
RUSSIA - Anastasia Lebedeva | Maria Botalova
SWITZERLAND - Patricia Merz | Frederique Rol
TUNISIA - Nour Elhouda Ettaieb | Khadija Krimi
UNITED STATES - Molly Reckford | Michelle Sechser
VIETNAM - Thi Thao Luong | Thi Hao Dinh
LINZ 2019 RECAP
The French double of Bové and Tarantola got out to a fast start and led a tightly packed field through 500m with New Zealand, Romania, and Great Britain all maintaining overlap with France. Coming into the 1000, the Kiwi crew of Zoe McBride and Jackie Kiddle had moved out to a one length lead on France, with Romania, Great Britain, and The Netherlands trailing. New Zealand extended their lead in the third quarter, but the race for silver and bronze tightened up with the Dutch crew of Marieke Keijser and Ilse Paulis storming level with France. The Kiwis pulled away in the sprint to win by open water, with the Dutch taking silver, and the British crew Emily Craig and Imogen Grant sprinting through France and Romania for the bronze.
Watch the final here.
2021 SEASON RECAP
WORLD CUP I
The French double of Tarantola and Bové dominated a four boat final, defeating Belarus by 15 seconds.
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
The European final in Varese was loaded with six crews qualified for Tokyo, with the Italian double of Valentina Rodini and Federica Cesarini taking the gold over Great Britain, The Netherlands, and Romania. The top four crews were separated by four seconds.
FOQR
The three qualification spots for Tokyo were won by the United States, Switzerland, and Ireland. The third qualification spot in Lucerne became available after only two of the three available spots at the Americas Qualification were allocated to eligible crews.
WORLD CUP II
Craig and Grant from Great Britain won by a length over Romania and France. Russia trailed in fourth with Belarus taking fifth, and Japan sixth.
WORLD CUP III
The Dutch double of Keijser and Paulis cruised to a win in Sabaudia over Italy and Switzerland, setting a World's Best Time of 6:43.79 in the process.
USA PROSPECTS
The USA Lightweight Women's Double of Molly Reckford and Michelle Sechser have had a great 2021 season so far. The duo won non-qualified Olympic Trials in February, then finished second at Olympic Trials II in the open double in April, then won the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta in May, securing their spot at the USA LW2x in Tokyo. The crew has shown the speed to compete for the A Final in a very competitive event.
MEDAL PICKS
Following the retirement of Zoe McBride and the withdrawal of the world champion Kiwi double from Tokyo, the lightweight women's double is now very much up for grabs. The top two contenders for gold following the 2021 season are The Netherlands and Great Britain, with the Dutch setting the World's Best Time at World Cup III and the British winning in Lucerne. Then the race for the third spot on the podium is going to be tight between Italy, Romania, France, Belarus, United States, Russia, and Canada with three of those crews not even making the final.
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