Rowers keep Greece in top spot at the European Championships in Belarus
Greek rowers continued to sweep the medals in international competition, earning four golds and one silver in the five finals in which they took part at the weekend’s European Championship in Brest, Belarus. As a result, Greece finished on top of the medals table for the second year in succession. The return to action of silver Olympic medalists Vassilis Polymeros and Dimitris Mougios in the lightweight double sculls gave them the first place by some distance past the other crews. Christina Yiazitzidou and Alexandra Tsiavou confirmed their forward progress, when in addition to the gold medal they took at the Worlds in Poznan, Poland, this summer, they added the European gold in the women’s lightweight double sculls. Twins Apostolos and Nikos Goudoulas won the coxless pairs final, to add to their bronze at the Worlds and the gold at the Mediterranean Games, while Ioannis Tsamis, Stergios Papachristos, Giorgos Tziallas and Pavlos Gavrilidis earned the gold in the coxless four, upsetting the odds. «We didn’t make a very good start, but improved a lot after the 1,000-meter mark and managed to push for a win in the last 10 strokes,» said Ioannis Tsamis. Finally Yiannis Christou, who had won the event last year, finished second in the single sculls, behind Mindaugas Griskonis of Lithuania.
