August 31, 2019 - The Sinkovic brothers, also known as Valent and Martin Sinkovic, defended the world rowing championship title in the coxless pairs discipline.
The Sinkovic brothers dominated the final race at the World Championships in Linz-Ottensheim, Austria, from the first to the last row, finishing 3.19 seconds ahead of second-placed New Zealanders Thomas Murray and Michael Brake, reports HRT.
The bronze went to Australians Sam Hardy and Joshua Hicks, who were 7.53 seconds behind the Sinkovic brothers.
After the first 500 meters, the Sinkovic brothers were already a boat ahead of the New Zealanders, and halfway through the course, their advantage almost doubled (2.88 seconds) ahead of their closest opponents, while the Australians in third and Italians in fourth were already behind by more than five seconds.
Although the New Zealand crew seemed to be approaching the Croatian duo in the third leg of the course, Valent and Martin still increased their advantage with a forceful finish.
For the Sinkovic brothers, this is the sixth gold from the world championships. They won with David Šain and Damir Martin (2010, 2013) in the quadruple sculls, twice in the double sculls (2014, 2015) and twice in coxless pairs (2018, 2019). They also have silver in coxless pairs from 2017 and a bronze in the quadruple sculls from 2011.
FINAL:
1. Croatia 6:42.28
2. New Zealand 6:45.47
3. Australia 6:51.81
4. Italy 6:55.34
5. Spain 6:57.40
6. France 7:02.05
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