After a stunning performance, Stefanos Ntouskos won the gold medal at the World Rowing Championships, held in Shanghai. The Greek Olympian competed with excellent tactics and was 3rd in the first 500 meters of the final in the single sculls and 2nd at the 1,000-meter mark. At that point in the race, Ntouskos attacked and moved into 1st place by the 1,500 meters, to… be the first to break the finish “thread”, after six minutes, 36 seconds and 75 hundredths.
As he had done at the Tokyo Olympic Games, four years ago, the Greek world champion was impressive throughout the race, but especially in the final meters he “measured” his opponents and from the moment he took the lead, he left them no room for reaction. Despite the intense effort of the German, Oliver Zeidler, who was leading until the 1,400-meter mark, he finished behind Ntouskos by a margin of 42 hundredths of a second (6:37.17) while the bronze medal was won by the Belarusian, Yauheni Zalaty (6:38.60).
It is worth noting that Ntouskos’s gold in Shanghai is Greece’s first medal in the men’s single sculls at the World Rowing Championships and the first gold medal in any boat class since 2014.
Shortly after the finish, the Greek Olympian and world champion, stated to the ERT camera:
“I believed it. I am very tired and I thank everyone who is by my side and supports me in this effort. I am extremely happy, I have no words. The race went as I wanted and at the 1,000-meter mark I believed it even more. I had patience and in the last 150 meters I gave everything I had. It’s unbelievable. I thank Greece and all Greeks. I hope I gave them a little joy. The East suits me… it’s the… golden East. I felt I was going for the gold. I hope to be an example for the young kids. We may be a small country and others may seem… like giants, but in the end, the Greek spirit counts. When the peak comes, it’s something unique, something stunning. The goal is to be worthy and to not ‘let success go to my head’. I want to work and be in excellent condition, as I am now, for the Olympic medal in Los Angeles. Now I can… laugh. Thank you all.”
