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Coxless Pairs, Women

Date28 July – 1 August 2012
StatusOlympic
LocationEton Dorney, Windsor
Participants20 from 10 countries

On Day 5 of the 2012 Summer Olympics, the host nation was still wanting for a gold medal. On this day, however, they had two great hopes: cyclist Bradley Wiggins in the men’s time trial and rowers Helen Glover and Heather Stanning in the women’s coxless pairs. Glover and Stanning had the first chance and were heavily favored, having arrived at the Games with a string of victories in the event over the season. If anyone could challenge them it would be the New Zealand squad rowed by Juliette Haigh and Rebecca Scown, who together had won the World Championships in the event the past two years and were known for their sprinting prowess in the final strech. Also in contention were two of Romania’s most decorated Olympians, Georgeta Damian-Andrunache and Viorica Susanu, who had won the event in the past three editions of the Games, in addition to victories in the eights in 2000 and 2004.

Glover and Stanning got off to an excellent start in the heats, setting an Olympic record in the event of 6:57.29 and pointedly establishing themselves as the duo to beat. Haigh and Scown fell behind former eights World Champions Kate Hornsey and Sarah Outhwaite-Tait of Australia, but still managed to make the final. Damian-Andrunache and Susanu finished third in their heat after a surprising effort from the American duo Sarah Hendershot and Sarah Zelenka, but made the final by emerging victorious in the repêchage. The final, however, was no contest: Glover and Stanning were at least a boat length ahead for much of the race and, despite last minute pushes from Australia and New Zealand, captured the gold in front of a large, roaring crowd. It was not only the first gold medal for Britain at the 2012 Games, but also the first Olympic gold medal for women’s rowing in the nation. Australia and New Zealand finished with the silver and bronze medals respectively.

PosPairNOC
1Helen Glover / Heather StanningGBRGold
2Kate Hornsey / Sarah TaitAUSSilver
3Juliette Haigh / Rebecca ScownNZLBronze
4Sara Hendershot / Sarah ZelenkaUSA
5Georgeta Andrunache / Viorica SusanuROU
6Kerstin Hartmann / Marlene SinnigGER
7Zhang Yage / Gao YulanCHN
8Naydene Smith / Lee-Ann PersseRSA
9María Laura Abalo / Gabriela BestARG
10Claudia Wurzel / Sara BertolasiITA

Round One

Date28 July 2012 — 9:30
FormatWinner of each heat advanced to final; all others to repêchage.

Heat #1

Time9:30
PosLanePairNOCTime500 m1,000 m1,500 m500-1,000 m1,000-1,500 m1,500-2,000 m
15Helen Glover / Heather StanningGBR6:57.291:39.69 (1)3:24.29 (1)5:10.36 (1)1:44.60 (1)1:46.07 (1)1:46.93 (3)Q
24Sara Hendershot / Sarah ZelenkaUSA6:59.291:41.07 (2)3:26.72 (2)5:13.15 (2)1:45.65 (2)1:46.43 (2)1:46.14 (1)Q
31Georgeta Andrunache / Viorica SusanuROU7:05.391:43.36 (5)3:30.82 (4)5:19.25 (3)1:47.46 (3)1:48.43 (3)1:46.14 (1)
43Kerstin Hartmann / Marlene SinnigGER7:10.281:41.89 (3)3:30.22 (3)5:20.30 (4)1:48.33 (4)1:50.08 (5)1:49.98 (4)
52María Laura Abalo / Gabriela BestARG7:12.171:43.26 (4)3:31.79 (5)5:21.73 (5)1:48.53 (5)1:49.94 (4)1:50.44 (5)

Heat #2

Time9:40
PosLanePairNOCTime500 m1,000 m1,500 m500-1,000 m1,000-1,500 m1,500-2,000 m
12Kate Hornsey / Sarah TaitAUS7:01.601:39.84 (1)3:27.58 (1)5:15.92 (1)1:47.74 (1)1:48.34 (1)1:45.68 (1)Q
24Juliette Haigh / Rebecca ScownNZL7:06.931:42.02 (2)3:29.86 (2)5:18.96 (2)1:47.84 (2)1:49.10 (2)1:47.97 (3)Q
33Zhang Yage / Gao YulanCHN7:13.381:42.31 (3)3:32.38 (3)5:24.35 (3)1:50.07 (3)1:51.97 (4)1:49.03 (4)
45Naydene Smith / Lee-Ann PersseRSA7:14.311:43.92 (4)3:35.55 (4)5:26.94 (4)1:51.63 (5)1:51.39 (3)1:47.37 (2)
51Claudia Wurzel / Sara BertolasiITA7:21.441:44.95 (5)3:36.07 (5)5:28.79 (5)1:51.12 (4)1:52.72 (5)1:52.65 (5)

Round One Repêchage

Date30 July 2012 — 9:30
FormatTop two in each heat to A Final.

Heat #1

Time9:30
PosLanePairNOCTime500 m1,000 m1,500 m500-1,000 m1,000-1,500 m1,500-2,000 m
13Georgeta Andrunache / Viorica SusanuROU7:08.421:42.49 (1)3:31.56 (1)5:20.24 (1)1:49.07 (1)1:48.68 (2)1:48.18 (1)Q
22Kerstin Hartmann / Marlene SinnigGER7:10.421:42.97 (2)3:32.84 (2)5:21.31 (2)1:49.87 (2)1:48.47 (1)1:49.11 (2)Q
34Zhang Yage / Gao YulanCHN7:15.181:43.25 (3)3:33.69 (3)5:24.71 (3)1:50.44 (3)1:51.02 (4)1:50.47 (4)
41Claudia Wurzel / Sara BertolasiITA7:18.141:46.54 (6)3:37.83 (6)5:26.75 (4)1:51.29 (4)1:48.92 (3)1:51.39 (6)
55Naydene Smith / Lee-Ann PersseRSA7:18.961:44.19 (4)3:36.86 (4)5:29.51 (5)1:52.67 (6)1:52.65 (6)1:49.45 (3)
66María Laura Abalo / Gabriela BestARG7:20.941:45.06 (5)3:37.10 (5)5:29.73 (6)1:52.04 (5)1:52.63 (5)1:51.21 (5)

Final Round

Date1 August 2012 — 10:10

Final A

Time11:50
PosLanePairNOCTime500 m1,000 m1,500 m500-1,000 m1,000-1,500 m1,500-2,000 m
13Helen Glover / Heather StanningGBR7:27.131:46.76 (1)3:39.52 (1)5:32.53 (1)1:52.76 (1)1:53.01 (2)1:54.60 (4)
24Kate Hornsey / Sarah TaitAUS7:29.861:50.34 (4)3:45.76 (3)5:39.36 (3)1:55.42 (4)1:53.60 (3)1:50.50 (1)
35Juliette Haigh / Rebecca ScownNZL7:30.191:49.56 (2)3:43.09 (2)5:37.72 (2)1:53.53 (2)1:54.63 (4)1:52.47 (3)
42Sara Hendershot / Sarah ZelenkaUSA7:30.391:51.86 (6)3:46.95 (5)5:39.64 (4)1:55.09 (3)1:52.69 (1)1:50.75 (2)
51Georgeta Andrunache / Viorica SusanuROU7:37.671:51.19 (5)3:46.62 (4)5:41.71 (5)1:55.43 (5)1:55.09 (5)1:55.96 (5)
66Kerstin Hartmann / Marlene SinnigGER7:42.061:49.92 (3)3:47.27 (6)5:44.68 (6)1:57.35 (6)1:57.41 (6)1:57.38 (6)

Final B

Time10:10
PosLanePairNOCTime500 m1,000 m1,500 m500-1,000 m1,000-1,500 m1,500-2,000 m
13Zhang Yage / Gao YulanCHN7:55.181:52.87 (2)3:52.51 (1)5:54.65 (1)1:59.64 (1)2:02.14 (1)2:00.53 (2)
24Naydene Smith / Lee-Ann PersseRSA7:56.401:52.63 (1)3:53.40 (2)5:56.75 (2)2:00.77 (2)2:03.35 (3)1:59.65 (1)
31María Laura Abalo / Gabriela BestARG8:03.531:58.30 (3)3:59.41 (3)6:02.46 (3)2:01.11 (3)2:03.05 (2)2:01.07 (3)
42Claudia Wurzel / Sara BertolasiITA8:06.141:58.57 (4)4:00.60 (4)6:04.17 (4)2:02.03 (4)2:03.57 (4)2:01.97 (4)