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Italy and Germany had won their respective heats two days ago with all other crews in this racing having to get to the final via the repechage. Germany got away very quickly with Italy appearing to falter through the 300-500m stage of the course. This gave Turkey second place behind Germany. Then Italy seemed to find their rhythm and overtook Turkey to go after Germany. Had this early falter ruined their chances of a gold medal?

Coming into the final sprint Germany’s Zorb, Muchow, Hennecke, Elster and coxswain Espig were in control. Rating 35 they looked comfortable and ready for any challenge. Italy, at 39, remained in the silver spot with Turkey managing to hold off the United States to earn the bronze medal.

Results: GER, ITA, TUR, USA, AUS, NZL


Jan Henneck (2) – GER – gold
“It was cool to see the race from the front and to get away from the other crews every stroke. It is quite unreal that we won today as we didn’t expect it.”

Francesco Tassia (c)  – ITA – silver
“We had a difficult start, but after the 1000m mark it got much better. During the race, I just said “day, day” (let’s go) all the time.”

Gokhan Guven (2) – TUR – bronze
“I feel so good as it is my first medal at any World Championships. It’s very different from the bronze I won in Nanjing at the Youth Olympic Games last year. This medal is much better, because I love my team.”

B-final

Both boats got away together at the start before Great Britain was able to pull away. The British gave the spectators a great showing by keeping their pace high including a 39 stroke rate finish.

Results: GBR, UKR