They’re off: Dutch claim gold and silver in Olympics rowing
The Netherlands has its first Olympic medals, thanks to the quadruple sculls rowing teams, who clinched gold and silver on the fifth day of the games.
Defending champions Lennart van Lierop, Finn Florijn, Tone Wieten and Koen Metsemakers were favourites to win the race and completed the two kilometre distance over two seconds faster than Italy, who came in second. Poland took the bronze.
In the women’s event, the Dutch team seemed assured of the gold medal but a late surge by Britain pushed them into second place on the finishing line.
Meanwhile, distance runner Sifan Hassan has confirmed she will take part in the 5,000 and 10,000 metre events plus the marathon and has opted out of the 1,500 metres.
Hassan is defending Olympic champion in the two shorter distances and has recently taken up marathon running. In 2023, she won the London and Chicago marathons.
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