U23 Lightweight Men's Quadruple Sculls (BLM4x) - Final

France won gold in this event at last year’s World Rowing Under 23 Championships and Maxime de Montfaucon was part of that golden crew. Here in Plovdiv they won their heat, qualifying directly for the A-Final, as did Germany racing alongside them in lane three.

A magnificent start from the French saw them move in front and secure a comfortable lead ahead of Denmark and Great Britain by the 500m mark. Denmark were the 2014 bronze medallists, with three athletes in the boat returning this year in the hope to do as well or even better in this A-Final. 

At the half-way mark, France were still leading comfortably ahead of Denmark while Germany had moved up and overtaken Great Britain to take third. But Great Britain refused to stay in fourth. The British challenged back and challenged hard, moving up the ranks one by one and into second with one quarter of the race left to row. Denmark kept the pace up to hold fast onto the podium.

At the line, France had withstood the British challenge, keeping hold of their gold, with Great Britain taking silver and Denmark earning another bronze.

Results: FRA, GBR, DEN, GER, ITA, BEL

Maxime Demontfaucon (3) – FRA – gold

“It’s my second year in the quad and I am already world champion from last year. The goal was clearly to retain it. This year was completely different from last year, we had to adapt and take advantage of the qualities that we had. I knew the level was high and we are proud to be here.”

“We are disappointed not to win gold, but the French were just on another level. It’s my second silver in a row and I am very proud of the crew. We did a good race.”

Jesper Fredsted (2) – DEN – bronze

“It’s my last under 23 and my first world championships. I had a lot of pressure as the other three got bronze last year already. It is a very nice feeling.”

B – Final 

At the half-way mark, Canada had clear water separating them from second-placed United States, while Austria was behind third and Hungary in fourth. The Canadians kept their rate high and remained unchallenged until the line. Austria and Hungary swapped between the third and fourth positions, with Austria having the advantage over Hungary in the final strokes.

Results: CAN, USA, AUT, HUN