With World Cup 1 in the books, where racing showcased a heap of Paris medal favorites, the Final Olympic/Paralympic Qualifier (FOPQR) less than a month away, and the Olympic flame lit already, here's a quick round up of the news row2k has been tracking on the Olympic front as teams ramp up for Paris.

?? The Olympic flame for #Paris2024 is lit!#Paris2024 | @Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/1odw4ga9G0

— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) April 16, 2024

We also have a complete look at which nations have qualified so far in each event, articles on the US team from the announcement of camp selections and the results of US Trials, plus a full page of Olympic resources for following the Games.

Familiar Victors in Varese

At the first World Cup in Varese, fully half the golds in the 14 Olympic events went to the 2023 World Champion, thanks in part to the British and the Dutch sending their full squads, with GB using it as a tune-up for the European Championships. Those two teams did win seven golds between them in Belgrade and would seem to be steam-rolling into the Olympic year.

Karolien Florijn (NED), unbeaten since switching to the single after Tokyo, continued her streak at World Cup 1

The familiar faces parade was led by single scullers Karolien Florijn (NED) and Ollie Zeidler (GER), and here are the other World Champions crews hitting the Olympic year in winning form, at least in the early going:

• GBR LW2x
• NED W2-
• NED M2x
• NED M4x
• GBR M8

Another three winners from Belgrade made the Varese podium, but ceded the gold to crews you might want to keep an eye on. In that will-it-hold-up category, these world champs look to have some competition for Paris:

• SUI M2- silver behind GBR's Tom George and Ollie Wynne-Griffith
• NED W4- bronze behind a new-look GBR 4 and half of the GB women's eight
• GBR M4- silver behind ITA

The Italian men's four is headed to the FOPQR, so likely a bit closer to peak speed already, but this was still GB's first loss of the Paris Quadrennial in the four--and the Italians bested them twice, in both the heat and in the final:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by World Rowing (@worldrowingofficial)

Aussies All-In on Men's Eight

In March, the Australians announced that they will prioritize the Men's eight, moving three of their Tokyo202One Olympic champs into the crew from the Aussie four: Jack Hargreaves, Alex Purnell, and Spencer Turrin.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Rowing Australia (@rowingaustralia)

The Aussie Men's Eight took bronze last year with Hargreaves, Purnell, and Turrin still in the four, and won gold at the Lucerne World Cup ahead of the British--handing the GB eight its only loss of the quadrennial.

As you can read in the full release, Australia has never won Olympic gold in the eight, but aims to take a shot at it in Paris.

Injury Time-out for AUT's Lobnig

Tokyo bronze medallist Magdalena Lobnig recently announced major medical news that may affect her ability to race in Paris.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Magdalena Lobnig | OLY (@magdalenalobnig)

Lobnig's injury could impact the standings and entries in two events for Paris: she is already qualified in the single, after racing to seventh in Belgrade in the 1x after a late injury to her sister scrubbed their plan to qualify last year for the double.

The sisters' hope had been to try for the double again this year at the FOPQR, but this news may change that plan since, as Lobnig herself notes in her post, the timeline is short.

Two Oars, or Four?

It is a nice--and wholly unique--problem that faces Croatia's Sinkovic brothers: which Olympic gold to try and repeat, the Tokyo win in the pair, or the Rio win in the double.

They made a big deal about being done with the pair after Tokyo and raced the double in 2022 and 2023, but after missing a medal altogether in Racice and taking second to the seemingly unbeatable Dutch combo in Belgrade, the Sinkovics announced a return to the pair last November.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Sinkovic Brothers (@sinkovicbrothers)

They just raced the pair A Final in Varese, but took fourth to the British, the Swiss world champs, and the Danish pair that took third behind them in Tokyo. Croatia has qualified both the pair and double for Paris, and it will be interesting to see if the brothers stick with the two oar decision or switch back in the coming weeks.

Final Qualifier-bound

As May's FOPQR approaches and teams start making announcements, the crews actually throwing their hats in the ring for those final two spots are starting to emerge. The US will have six crews trying for Olympic places: the men's single, men's heavy and light doubles, the men's and women's quads, and the men's eight.

The field in the Men's Eight will include both the Italians who just grabbed silver in Varese and the Canadians.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Rowing Canada Aviron (@rowingcanada)

Canada is also sending a Women's quad, with two-time Olympic single sculler Carling Zeeman aboard, and New Zealand will field two quads despite not racing those events at all in 2023. According to reports, both Kiwi quads have shown good speed, earning themselves the shot at qualifying in Switzerland alongside the W2- who just missed grabbing a spot in Belgrade.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Rowing NZ (@rowingnz)

Australia also announced, on the heels of a successful Varese World Cup, that their LW2x (4th) and M4x (5th) will join the fray in Lucerne as well.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Rowing Australia (@rowingaustralia)

Other notables we expect to see in the lists at the FOPQR include:

• IRL's Sanita Puspure, back in the W1x
• GBR racing for spots in both the M1x and M2x
• both the DEN M2- and W2- (each 3rd at WC1), along with the NED 2-, all looking to earn final qualification just as they did for Tokyo
• plus 3 winners from World Cup 1: UKR W4x, ITA M4- and ITA W8
• and 4 other medalists from Varese: ITA M1x, NOR W1x, GER W2x, and ITA LW2x

Racing at the FOPQR starts on May 19th and entries will be available here on the World Rowing site the week of the event.

Paris 2024 Medal Reveal

This goes back few weeks, but in case you missed it, get your peek at the Paris 2024 medals with their embedded Eiffel Tower iron:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Paris2024 (@paris2024)

The organizers also just announced that Louis Vuitton has crafted custom-made trunks to hold the medals.

You can follow row2k's complete Olympic coverage throughout the build-up the Paris Olympics and Paralympics.