May 28, 2023 - The Sinković brothers have done it again, this time winning the gold medal at the European Championships in Bled!

Croatian rowers Martin and Valent Sinković won the gold medal at the European Championships in Bled on Sunday morning.

In the doubles final, the Sinković brothers won yet another European gold with a time of 6:07.00, which is a record at the European Championships. In a great finish, they left the Italians Luca Rombladi and Matteo Sartori behind (6:08.25). The bronze was won by the Dutch crew, made up of Stefan Broenink and Melwin Tweellar (6:10.74).

Sisters Josipa and Ivana Jurković were also in the medal fight in the coxless pairs category. The Croatian rowers took fourth place in the final with a result of 7:08.55. The gold was won by the Romanian crew with a time of 6:56.40. The silver was won by the Dutch crew (6:57.56), and the bronze was taken by the Spanish crew (7:03.56).

The Croatian rowing sisters started the race well. Before the last 500 meters, they held third, but in the end, the Spanish rowers stepped up, leaving the Jurković sisters without a medal.

Brothers Anton and Patrik Lončarić performed in the B final today and were tenth overall. They were fourth in their group with a time of 6:38.46, while the Swiss team, including Roman Roeoesli and Andrin Gulich won the gold (6:22.34).

Damir Martin is 11th overall after finishing fifth in the B singles final with a time of 7:25.88. 

Source: 24 Sata

To follow the latest sports news in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page. 

May 7, 2023 - Brothers Martin and Valent Sinković won the double sculls gold medal at the World Rowing Cup, which is held at Jarun Lake in Zagreb.

They led from the start of the race, followed closely by Spaniards Aleix Garcia Pujolar and Rodrigo Conde Romero, who eventually finished the race in second place.

The Sinković Brothers achieved a time of 06:16.74, and in the end, the Spaniards were a little less than four seconds behind. In third place was the Serbian crew of Aleksandar Beđik and Aleksandar Filipović.

"This is our first victory this season; there is no better audience, no better athletes than Croats. I'm still emotional; this is wonderful. Our city, our audience. Thank you all. We knew the Spaniards would be fast; they were second in the world, but this proves that we are still better. As agreed, we hit the finish line in the end. Thank you once again to everyone who came to cheer us on," said Martin Sinković for HRT.

Valent added:

"This is something special; we will remember this for the rest of our lives. We have never experienced this, such a thrashing in the last 200 meters that my heart is full—everything we did paid off. Guys, thank you. Everywhere we looked, our fans supported us from the start, but in the last 200 meters, when we heard that noise, we decided to step up even more. This is great." 

Sisters Ivan and Josipa Jurković finished the race in third place in coxless pairs. Three crews competed in the final, and first place was taken by Spaniards Aina Cid and Esther Briz Zamorano (7:16.49). Czech representatives Radka Novotnikova and Pavlina Flamikova won silver (7:17:22), and the Jurković sisters took third place (7:36.73).

Brothers Patrik and Anton Lončarić took fourth place in coxless pairs (06:38.81). Swiss team Roman Roeoesli and Andrin Gulich won gold (06:30.98).

Source: HRT

To follow the latest sports news in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page. 

July 9, 2022 - The Sinković brothers rowed well yet again in the World Cup semi-final race to secure the Lucerne World Rowing Cup final! They crossed the finish line with a time of 6:12.16, leaving behind the crews of Lithuania and Great Britain.

Martin and Valent controlled the race from start to finish and gave the impression that they could have increased the pace if needed, but with a safe and tactically excellent race, they left their strength for the most important thing, which is Sunday's final, scheduled for 14:01. 

In addition to the Sinković brothers, the previously mentioned crews of Lithuania and Great Britain won a spot in the final, while the crews of Australia, Serbia, and Spain made it to the final from the second semi-final group.

"A safe victory was enough; we felt good throughout the race. The British crew squeezed by at the beginning, and the Lithuanians at the end had reverse tactics, so they surprised us a little, but we did our job and didn't bother our opponents. Tomorrow in the final, we will have to work even harder, the Australians have proven to be very good, and we believe it will be a great race," said Valent Sinković.

"We learned through the qualifications and semi-finals to build technique and speed, and tomorrow we will have to row the best race, and we believe we will. Therefore, we hope that we will win tomorrow and that we will celebrate the overall victory with three victories in all three World Cups," said Martin Sinković.

In addition to the Sinković brothers, sisters Ivan and Josipa Jurković will compete in the coxless pairs final on Sunday, scheduled for 10:05 am.

Sunday is thus the big final day, and according to everything seen, Croatia's rowers have the chance to bring many more medals to the already impressive rowing collection! 

To read more about sports in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.

July 31, 2021 - The Sinković brothers return to Zagreb with Olympic gold medals, along with bronze medalist rower Damir Martin and the Croatia judo team. 

The Croatia rowing team, led by Olympic gold medalists Martin and Valent Sinković and bronze medalist Damir Martin, arrived at Zagreb Airport. The judo team led by the world champion Barbara Matić also arrived from Tokyo, reports Index.hr.

"I am sorry that we did not win a medal. I hope that our performances gave motivation to others to train better and stronger and that there will be more successful Games for us in Paris," said Matić, who finished in fifth place.

Damir Martin was the next to stand in front of the microphone, holding his bronze medal after an incredible finish.

"Thank you for the welcome and messages of support. This medal is dedicated to my immediate family who always stood by me, went through the ups and downs with me. In the final, I was even a little short of winning silver. I am overjoyed, satisfied, and glad that Paris is in three years and there could be something beautiful there too. I look forward to your support," Martin said.

"Thank you all for coming and supporting us. My brother Martin and I have been saying for years that we have great conditions, but we are trying to push Jarun for the next generations and make it a great place for all rowers for the next 30 years. We had support and we could work in peace. Only the two of us, the coach and our family know how difficult it was to change discipline. There were ups and downs. We will never perform in this discipline again. We are happy to return to our natural discipline. There was a wonderful atmosphere in Tokyo between us Croatian athletes, we support each other and there will be more medals," said Valent Sinković and thus confirmed their return to double sculls. 

"We have written history in world rowing. No one has ever done this. We have more fire in us to win great results," added Martin Sinković.

In the evening, three of the four tennis Olympic medalists will arrive from Tokyo. They are Olympic gold medalists Mate Pavić / Nikola Mektić and silver medalist Marin Čilić. Ivan Dodig will continue from Tokyo to the United States, where new appearances await him soon.

To follow the latest sports news in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

To learn more about sport in Croatia, CLICK HERE. 

July 29, 2021 - The Sinković brothers have done it again - they have won the rowing Olympic gold medal in Tokyo!

The celebrated Valent and Martin Sinković have won the Olympic gold in the coxless pairs discipline at the Olympic Games in Tokyo!

The Sinković brothers started strongly in their style from the start and immediately took the lead. After 500 meters, they had a 1.16-second advantage over Denmark and more than two seconds over the other four crews. In the middle of the race, the Sinković brothers were already a boat's length in front of the first runners-up, Romania, and Denmark, and held that advantage until the last 200 meters.

In the very end, the excellent Romania team of Marius Cozmiuc and Ciprian Tudosa managed to get closer, but the Sinković brothers attacked and passed the finish line with a 1.29-second advantage. The bronze was won by Denmark's Frederic Vystavel and Joachim Sutton.

This is the third Olympic medal for the Sinković brothers in the third different discipline, after the silver in the quadruple sculls from London 2012 and the gold in the doubles sculls from Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

The Sinković brothers reached a new triumph with convincing victories in all three of their appearances in Tokyo, starting on Saturday in the qualifiers, continuing on Wednesday in the semifinals, and finishing the job on Thursday in the finals.

This is the second gold for Croatia in Tokyo, three days after taekwondo fighter Matea Jelić was the best in the category up to 67 kilograms.

"I don't know what to say smartly, we said everything on the track. The race is exactly as we imagined. We got Romania every time they tried to catch up with us," said Martin Sinković.

Valent added:

"Romania tested us to the limit. They set off before we thought of an attack, at 1000 meters already, we let them in a bit, and then at 750, we hit all the way so they didn’t feel blood. The last 200 we did the work, we said we wouldn’t breathe."

"We wanted to cross the finish line first and we achieved that. We made history, we made history with the world’s first gold, and now we’re still up," said Martin.

To follow the latest sports news in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

To learn more about sport in Croatia, CLICK HERE. 

June 6, 2021 - Wonderful news ahead of the Olympic Games in Tokyo as the Sinković brothers win the gold medal, the Lončarić brothers the bronze, and the Jurković sisters the silver at the World Rowing Cup III in Sabaudia, Italy! 

Brothers Valent and Martin Sinković won gold in coxless pairs in the third regatta of the World Rowing Cup in Sabaudia on Sunday, while brothers Patrik and Antun Lončarić took third place.

The Sinković brothers celebrated convincingly with a time of 6:16.79. Second place was taken by the British crew Calvin Tarczy and Douwe de Graaf, a little more than six seconds behind. Patrik and Antun Lončarić took third place with 6:25.89.

"There's no beating the Sinkovic brothers this year. Another dominant win for Martin and Valent - they will be the crew to beat in Tokyo, no doubt about it," said the World Rowing Twitter account after the win. 

This is a great result for both Croatian crews, especially for the Sinković brothers, for whom this was great preparation ahead of the Olympic Games in Tokyo, which begin on July 23.

Even better news - the Jurković sisters won second place in the World Cup race. This is a historic success of Croatian sport because never in the history of a medal have two pairs of siblings won a medal in the same competition!

The great Damir Martin will race a little later today. Stay tuned! 

Source: Index.hr

To follow the latest sports news in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

To learn more about sport in Croatia, CLICK HERE. 

April 11, 2021 - The brilliant Sinkovic brothers win European gold at the Rowing Championships in Varese, Italy!

Brother Martin and Valent Sinkovic won the gold medal in coxless pairs at the European Rowing Championships in Varese!

The Sinkovic brothers led throughout the race and deservedly celebrated in the end, passing through the finish line with a time of 6:23.37. Second place was taken by the Italian crew, and in third was the team from Serbia. Earlier in the day, sisters Ivana and Josipa Jurković took fifth place in the women's competition of the same discipline.

Damir Martin will fight in the singles final at 3:06 pm. 

You might recall that the Sinkovic brothers won silver at the European Championship held last year, which was the only rowing competition held in the pandemic year. 

Until this European Championship, the Sinkovic brothers have won 11 European, world, and Olympic gold medals, four silver medals, and one bronze medal as members of the foursome, double sculls, and coxless pairs. They moved to the coxless pairs discipline after the Olympic Games in Rio.

"A phenomenal race and it is wonderful to be the European champion again after last year when the Romanians surprised us. It is the Olympic year and we can hardly wait for new races, especially the historic one, the first World Championships in Zagreb," said Valent Sinković.

"We had a great feeling for the past three or four weeks and this was a really good race. However, the season has just begun, and we know what our goal is - Olympic gold in Tokyo," said Martin Sinković.

In the first major competition in the new discipline, they won silver at the 2017 World Championships and then won gold at the European Championships and World Champs in 2018 and 2019, before surprisingly finishing second behind Romanian team Cozmius and Tudose.

The next competition and another stop on the way to the Olympics in Tokyo is the World Rowing Championship, which is being held for the first time in history at Zagreb's Jarun from April 30 to May 2. 

We will have more after Damir Martin's final race at 3 pm! Stay tuned! 

Source: HRT

To follow the latest sports news in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

To learn more about sport in Croatia, CLICK HERE. 

April 8, 2021 - After several months of competition break, champion Croatian rowers brothers Valent and Martin Sinković are racing this weekend.

24 Sata reports that the Sinković brothers set off for the European Championships, to be held from April 9 to 11, 2021, in Varese, Italy. 629 athletes from 35 countries registered for the regatta, and Italy, the host country, has the largest number of registered crews.

"I think our biggest competition will be the Italians and the Romanians. The Dutch are tough on the first part of the track we learned last year. However, the boat is good, we are satisfied, and we can’t wait to race with the others. We hope for good competition, we will do our best to row the best we know, and then there is no fear for a good result," said Martin Sinković.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, in the international rowing season in 2020, only the European Championship was held, so the Croatian champion rowers are facing an exciting year of competition. According to the event management guidelines, the Varese Organizing Committee and the World Rowing Federation have developed a COVID-19 protection plan for organizing sporting events based on World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations to ensure that all participants in the European Rowing Championships are at the lowest possible risk of infection. 

"After last year's lockdown, the cancellation of the Olympics, and the whole new situation due to the pandemic, we have finally welcomed a big competition. It was a long winter, we trained well, we are ready, we feel excellent, and we can't wait for the races," said Valent Sinković.

The first race is scheduled for Friday, the semifinals are on Saturday, and the finals on Sunday.

Last year, of the rowing competitions, only the European Championship was held in which the Sinković brothers won second place. The next competition and another stop on the way to the Olympics in Tokyo is the World Rowing Cup, which is being held for the first time in history at Zagreb's Jarun from April 30 to May 2.

To follow the latest sports news in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

To learn more about sport in Croatia, CLICK HERE. 

October 11, 2020 - The Sinkovic Brothers win silver (6.29.46) in the coxless pair final at the European Rowing Championships in Poznan, Poland.

The Romanian team won the gold medal (6: 26.52), while the Italians came in third.

SILVER MEDAL IT IS! 2000m = 6:29.46 (2)! #sinkovicbrothers #broTOkyo #ERChamps #Poznan2020

— Sinkovic Brothers (@SinkovicBros) October 11, 2020

Brothers Valent and Martin Sinkovic, better known as the Sinkovic Brothers, were after another medal at the European Rowing Championships in Poznan, Poland. 

FINALS LIVE AT 12:01 p.m. @WorldRowing official website and @HRTsport (2. program) ?
Keep your fingers crossed! #sinkovicbrothers #rowing #broTOKYO #poznan2020 #ERChamps pic.twitter.com/bsUxMGeEFj

— Sinkovic Brothers (@SinkovicBros) October 11, 2020

The Sinkovic brothers won first place in their semifinal group on Saturday (6:31.220) with a three-second advantage over the Italian crew. They were first in all passing times (500, 1,000 and 1,500 meters), and convincingly reached the finals.

In their rowing career so far, the Sinkovic brothers have won, in all disciplines, six world gold medals, one silver and one bronze. At the Olympics, they have a gold medal from Rio and silver from the quadruple sculls in London. At the European Championships, they have four gold and one silver medal.

?M2- / Result
What a race by Marius-Vasile Cozmiuc and Ciprian Tudosa, able to hold off a late challenge from @SinkovicBros to take home gold from Romania !#ERChamps #europeanrowing #Poznan2020 pic.twitter.com/GcAe2QOOLA

— World Rowing (@WorldRowing) October 11, 2020

After leaving double sculls and starting rowing in a new discipline - coxless pairs, they won the world silver in 2017 in Sarasota and the gold in Plovdiv (2018) and Ottensheim (2019). At the European Championships in this discipline, they celebrated in Glasgow 2018 and Lucerne last year.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages.

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

October 5, 2020 - The Sinkovic Brothers will fight for their third consecutive European gold medal this weekend in Poznan.

HRT reports that the current world and European champions in the coxless pair, the celebrated Croatian rowers Martin and Valent Sinkovic, will try to win the third consecutive European title in this discipline this weekend in Poznan.

The day before leaving for Poznan, the Sinkovic brothers said that they expected to fight for gold, although this year they did not have any competition due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"This year there was no competition through which we check and improve our form, but it seems that we are fast and that the boat is good. Our coach followed our times, they are similar to last year before the World Cup, so we hope that the result will be good. We worked on ourselves, we will give our maximum, row the best we can and I believe we will be in the fight for gold," said Martin Sinkovic.

"I believe that the Italians will be our biggest competition. The Romanians, French, and Spaniards are always tough; you never know how they will row, but they are always close. Racing will be physically harder because you can’t be at the top of your form if you haven’t performed in any competition. But we are all in the same position and I don’t expect others to have an advantage over us. I think we have enough experience in our career," added Valent Sinkovic.

In addition to the Sinkovic brothers, Croatia will be represented in Poznan by Damir Martin in singles, Marko Ukropina, Anton and Patrik Loncaric and Ivan Piton in the coxless four, as well as Ivan and Josipa Jurkovic in the women's coxless pair. 

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages.

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.