BEIJING: Defending champions the United States and Australia, with three-times Olympic champion James Tomkins on board, qualified yesterday for the men’s eight final after fighting out a thrilling battle on Lake Shunyi.
The United States just edged the Australians in the repechage after losing their first heat to Sydney 2000 champions Britain.
Australia had to race in the repechage after finishing last in their opening race when their rudder jammed, causing the boat to veer suddenly into another lane.
But both crews looked to have returned to form yesterday, in the race which allows teams which failed in the heats to get another chance to qualify.
The US crew flew out of the blocks and led for the first 1,000 meters before Australia hit their rhythm and took the lead coming into the final stretch.
The United States, who stunned the favorites Canada in Athens to win their first men’s eight Olympic gold in 40 years, then pushed back to hold on until the line. They will face Britain and world champions Canada in the blue riband final on Sunday, the last race of the regatta, along with Australia, the Netherlands and Poland, who just beat crowd favorites China for the final spot.
Micah Boyd of the US said they had almost been grateful for another race before the final after getting their approach wrong in the first heat.
“We raced way too high like 37, 38 (strokes per minute) and some of the guys in our stern are, like, 6 ft 8, 6 ft 9. So we went to 36, 37 and that helped us a lot and made us more efficient.
“Obviously you want to win your heat but to get another race in helped out a lot.”
Another Olympic favorite, Germany’s Kathrin Boron, was also celebrating after guiding her women’s quad into Sunday’s final to continue her push for a fifth Olympic gold rowing medal.
In the last race of the day, the Chinese crowd finally had something to cheer when their women’s pair held on to win their repechage ahead of Germany.
