Single Sculls, Women

Coming into the event, Sanita Puspure of Ireland was considered one of the heavy favourites after having won back-to-back World Championships in 2018 and 2019. This year, however, she had not been as dominant, with relative newcomer Anna Prakaten of Russia having captured the most recent World event. Another medal contender, Kara Kohler of the United States, took silver at that same event. Not to be ignored either was Emma Twigg of New Zealand, who finished runner up to Puspure in the 2019 Worlds and had two fourth place Olympic finishes to her credit.

Quarterfinals went pretty well to form, with the exception of Iran’s Nazanin Malaei, who created a bit of a sensation by making it through to the semi-finals. Two exciting semi-finals pared down the field, and claimed a couple of prominent rowers in Puspure and Kohler, who failed to qualify for the finals. In the medal event, Austria’s Magdalena Lobnig and New Zealand’s Twigg broke fastest at the start, with Twigg soon forging into the lead. As Twigg’s lead expanded, Prakaten, of ROC, began to make her presence felt and soon took over second, with Lobnig third. That is how it ended, with the third time being the charm for Emma Twigg, who won gold with an Olympic best time.