The podium of the men's quadruple sculls at the 2014 European Championships
Belgrade, SRB

Ukraine stamped their authority on this race when they clocked the fastest time in the heats two days ago. Today Ukraine’s crew of Mikhay, Morozov, Nadtoka and Dovgodko showed that they meant business by taking off at the head of the field. Ukraine was last in the European Championship medals in 2012. 

Going through the middle of the race Ukraine had a smidgen of a lead over Russia with Germany and Great Britain right with them as well. Had Ukraine spent too much energy early on? Or did they know what to do when it came to tail wind rowing? These four boats remained tight coming into the final sprint with the medal order being impossible to tell. One thing was for sure, though, Ukraine was totally hanging in there.

In the final sprint Great Britain proved their mettle by getting the better of Germany and Russia and going after Ukraine. The Ukrainian crew, however, had enough left in the tank to stay in front and not only take the European Championship title, but also score the new European Best Time of 5:41.92.

Results: UKR, GBR, GER, RUS, POL, EST

Gold – Ivan Dovgodko – UKR

It was a powerful performance and strong race. We didn’t know our strength, very difficult race.

Silver – Sam Townsend – GBR

We’re disappointed, we wanted the gold, it wasn’t perfect today – the wind was so strong, really difficult conditions.

Bronze – Philipp Wende – GER

The weather was a problem today. We had a really poor start, so slow. We pushed as hard as we could to catch Ukraine but the start cost us.