Sinković brothers win gold at the European Championships
- by croatiaweek
- in Sport
28 May 2023 – Brothers Martin and Valent Sinković have won the gold medal at the European Championships in Bled on Sunday.
Martin and Valent continue to make rowing history. In the final of the men’s double sculls, they clinched the European gold, their seventh in their careers. They crossed the finish line with a time of 6:07.00, leaving behind the crews from Italy (6:08.25) and the Netherlands (6:10.74).
“European champions again! It was truly an exciting race. We knew the Italians would be tough opponents, and they proved it. They gave it their all, started pushing in the last 500 meters, but we were still stronger,” said Martin Sinković.
“It was a real tough race. We waited, we were patient, and it really paid off. When we saw that they weren’t pulling away from us in the last 200 meters, we said we have to give it our all, push hard, and see how they respond. They are young and strong, but we managed to break them, and we are extremely proud of how it turned out! Now we have three days of rest, and then we’ll continue with the preparations. We won’t go to the second World Cup; we’ll get ready for the last one in Lucerne, which is also the dress rehearsal for the World Championship,” said Valent Sinković.
“We’ll benefit from the rest, but we will still keep training and we can’t wait for the World Championship, hoping it will end just as well!” concluded Martin Sinković.
JURKOVIĆ SISTERS SECURE FOURTH PLACE
The excellent rowers from Korčula finished in fourth place in the final of the European Championship with a time of 7:08.55. The gold went to 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 claimed by Spain (7:03.56).
“Thank you to everyone who supported us! We gave it our all, but in the end, the Spanish crew was slightly stronger in the finish. I started too strong in the first 500 meters because we wanted to take the lead and then maintain the pace. We went all out, but in the last 200 meters, I didn’t have the strength. Sometimes it has to be like that, someone breaks, someone keeps going, but after the World Cup in Zagreb, I am extremely satisfied, and we’ll continue to build ourselves race by race,” said Josipa Jurković.
“We are both satisfied and unsatisfied, you know how it is when you have a wooden medal. We are going to Lucerne with even more motivation to show what we can do and to arrive there in even better shape than we are now,” concluded Ivana Jurković.