Rewind - some stuff from last night: Saw a women's double out practicing tonight with a neck brace on the bowseat woman; yeesh.
Itzok Cop got on Olaf Tufte's shoulders leaving the medals platform (see Saturday's galleries); seems they're pretty good buds.
The Hungarian double collapsed and slowly, slowly, slowly flipped (sculling coaches, you've seen this in action) after winning their race. Again see Saturday's galleries; I put up a half dozen or so shots in sequence, from the moment of truth to the moment of hanging over the capsized boat.
On to today:
Can't even start without saying what tremendous fun it was to see the US women race with so much heart and take their first gold in a bit. I sometimes say I go to worlds just to see my friends win; that did the job.
Kate MacKenzie went from sculling spare to gold medal eight stroke in a year: yeesh.
I guess a W's a W: in the B final of the LM4-, the Irish winners were pounding the air and shouting, and the second place/eighth overal Poles were standing up and dancing in the boat.
In other petite final action, the US women's quad threw down in a wire-to-wire winning performance; there's no other way to end the week if you're not in the A final.
Igor Boraska won bronze in the coxed four, just five months after racing in the bobsled at the Winter Olympics.
With only four entries, the lightweight women's pair is back in the red zone; if an event has less than six entries two years running, it will be eliminated from the Worlds program.
How many trips to the medals stand has Carlo Gaddi made? Whatever it is, he made yet another in the LM2- today for a silver. At 42 or 43 years old, Gaddi was already a vet when I made my first team back in 1987. I had to race him way too many times, whew.
To see Matt Madigan coaching the LW women's quad makes interesting spectacle; Matt is almost as big as two of them put together. Congrats on the bronze to Matt and the crew.
Anyone care to venture a guess as to why the Italian association photographer was working so hard to get photos of the US light women's quad?
Final Medal Count | |||
Gold | Silver | Bronze | |
Germany | 5 | 4 | 3 |
Italy | 3 | 4 | 3 |
Great Britain | 3 | 1 | 2 |
Australia | 3 | 1 | 1 |
Bulgaria | 2 | ||
USA | 1 | 2 | 4 |
Canada | 1 | 2 | 1 |
Denmark | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Chile | 1 | 1 | |
Romania | 1 | ||
New Zealand | 1 | ||
Ireland | 1 | ||
Hungary | 1 | ||
Poland | 2 | ||
Spain | 1 | 2 | |
Belarus | 1 | 2 | |
Netherlands | 1 | 1 | |
Slovenia | 1 | ||
South Africa | 1 | ||
Russia | 1 | ||
Croatia | 2 | ||
China | 1 | ||
Norway | 1 |
On most of the side shots during the light men's quad, the only thing you could see of the Italian crew was their wake as the camera showed everyone else duking it out.
Every time the bowman of the Chilean pair is on the medals dock, he cries. Guess he's earned it; he broke his own world record today.
What are the lyrics of the Australian national anthem? You'd think they're hilarious, or something like Louie Louie the way the Aussies sing them: at full voice, heads thrown back and laughing. Or maybe it's the gold medal around their neck when they sing it that makes them laugh...
The stroke of the bronze medal Canadian light four was also in the 1996 medalist crew in Atlanta.
The Danish light men's four has really come into its own once again, as has stroke Eskild Ebbesen, once assumed to be more mere engine than technician and leader; they're no longer really in the shadow of the equally dominating Dane four of the 90s. Off the line at 50, settle to 44, then 40, and stay there?!?! Yow.
Leonardo Pettinari brought his infant kid up on the medals dock (see today's photos later); you gotta wonder if the kid might show up there on his own power someday.
Overhead: "Here's the play by play of the women's eight: BOOM!"
The stroke of the Italian men's eight, Sartori always looked big in the quad, but in the eight he towers almost a full head of sitting height above the rest of his crew.
The quads held some surprises today: in the women's quad A final, first the Aussies rowed down the Ukrainians, then the Germans rowed down the Aussies. It might not seem like a surprise that the defending World and Olympic champ Germans could do this, but they've had a bad year; last 1000 of the final isn't a bad time to get your s*$% together.
Overheard during the men's eight medal ceremony from a parent trying to catch her gold medalist son's eye: "Andrew; focus on your mum for a change!"
Sunday by the numbers:
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