Evangelia Anastasiadou and Milena Kontou once again claimed the gold medal in the lightweight double sculls at the World Rowing Championships in St. Catharines, Canada. This event covers non-Olympic categories for Men-Women, Under 23, and Juniors.
The Greek duo completed their effort in the final with a time of 6:44.63, improving their own world record, and stood on the highest podium for the second consecutive time at a World Championship, following their win in 2023 in Plovdiv.
For the record, the Italian pair Elena Sali and Alice Ramella finished second in the U23 lightweight double sculls final with a time of 6:52.47, while the French duo Eléa Cloutier and Rose Galand secured the bronze with 6:57.64.
Meanwhile, Antonis Papakonstantinou and Zoe Fitsiou won silver medals in the men’s and women’s single sculls, respectively.
Specifically, Antonis Papakonstantinou, the “bronze” Olympic medalist in Paris, was crowned “silver” World Champion. The Greek rower finished in second place with a time of 06:51.90. He fought hard against Irishman Paul O’Donovan, who crossed the finish line just 2 seconds earlier.
O’Donovan clocked a time of 06:49.68, while the bronze medal went to Italy’s Nils Torre with 06:52.64.
Additionally, after winning bronze at the Paris Olympics with Milena Kontou in the lightweight double sculls, Zoe Fitsiou claimed the silver medal at the World Rowing Championships. Despite advancing to the final with the best time from the semifinals, Fitsiou finished second in the thrilling final, clocking 7:31.65.
The gold medal was won by Romania’s Ionela-Livia Cozmiuc with a time of 07:29.92, just under 2 seconds ahead of Fitsiou. Ireland’s Siobhán McCrohan took the bronze with 07:32.94.
Evangelia Fragou came close to a medal but finished fourth in the women’s single sculls U23 final. The Greek champion completed her race in 7:20.29, while the medals were claimed by Germany’s Alexandra Föster (7:13.69), Switzerland’s Aurelia-Maxima Katharina Janssen (7:16.47), and Belgium’s Mazarine Guilbert (7:18.62).
On the last day of the World Championships, the curtain closed with five finals for the Greek crews in the Junior category (early Monday morning, Eastern Australian time).
Panos Makrygiannis was dominant in the junior men’s single sculls semifinal at the World Championships in Canada, taking first place and advancing triumphantly to the final. Last year’s silver world champion secured his spot in the final with the best time among all finalists, finishing in 6:55.86.
Nikos Cholopoulos and Konstantinos Giannoulis were “unstoppable” in the junior men’s double sculls semifinal, taking first place with a time of 6:24.44, securing their spot in the final with the best time among all crews.
Gabriela Lioliou and Varvara Lykimitrou advanced to the final of the junior women’s double sculls after finishing first in the first semifinal with a time of 7:07.23, the second-best time among the six finalists, behind the British boat that topped the next semifinal with 7:06.89.
Nefeli Dara and Dimitra Papaioannou secured their direct qualification for the junior women’s pair final after taking second place in the preliminary round with a time of 7:35.42.
Finally, Demosthenes Koutsogiannis and Andreas Bourkas, after a tough battle with the Romanian crew, finished first with a time of 7:16.31 (7:16.90 for the Romanian boat) and secured their first major final at a World Championship.
*With AMNA
