The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic GamesAugust 8-24 2008
(BEIJING, August 17) -- Kirsten van der Kolk and Marit van Eupen of the Netherlands claimed gold in the Lightweight Women's Double Sculls with a time of 6:54.74, 1.29 seconds ahead of second-finish Finland's Sanna Sten and Minna Nieminen. Melanie Kok and Tracy Cameron of Canada finished with a time of 6:56.68, edging out Germany by just 0.04 seconds to take bronze.
The Dutch duo, competing in the Olympics for the third time, finished third at Athens 2004 and sixth at Sydney 2000 in the same boat class. They had a slow start and were in last place at the 500m mark, but they picked up the pace and were second at the 1500m mark and then surpassed Finland in the last 500m to take gold.
"It was a good race, we did what we planned to do after a lot of years training -- everybody hoped for the gold," said Kolk after winning the gold. "We know we are the best, and if you are the best, then it will happen."
The Finns Sten and Nieminen were first at the 1500m mark, but failed to hold the lead in the final sprint and settled for silver. Third-place finisher Canada was in the lead at the 1000m mark, but dropped to third at the finish line, just 0.04 seconds ahead of Germany.
Lightweight Women's Double Sculls, final standings:
1. Netherlands -- Kirsten van der Kolk and Marit van Eupen, 6:54.74
2. Finland -- Sanna Sten and Minna Nieminen, 6:56.03
3. Canada -- Melanie Kok and Tracy Cameron, 6:56.68
4. Germany -- Berit Annika Carow and Marie-Louise Draeger, 6:56.72
5. China -- Xu Dongxiang and Yu Hua, 7:01.90
6. Greece -- Chrysi Biskitzi and Alexandra Tsiavou, 7:04.61
