Rower Rajko Hrvat won Sunday’s final among lightweight skiers at the home European championship in Bled. Today he convinced with a reliable victory in the repechage.
The 37-year-old Izol resident left nothing to chance in the repechage. The Croat led from the start to the finish line and already had a four-second advantage over the closest pursuer, the Dane, at the halfway point Rasmus Lind. When the advantage grew to six seconds at 1500 meters, the Croatian could also save a few atoms of power for Sunday.
The Swiss won the final from the second repechage Andri Struzinawho is celebrating his 26th birthday today, and a German Arno Gauss. Already in Thursday’s qualifiers, the two Italians qualified for the final with their victories Niels Torre and French Hugo Beureywho complete the lineup for Sunday’s honors game.
“After qualifying, I had to kick myself in the ass several times. But with this audience on home ground, the motivation was really great. I lacked some feelings on Thursday and there was still some reserve today. I hope to show my best on Sunday race,” said the Croatian after the match. He quickly forgot about the disappointment from the qualification, when he landed in second place and even saw the positive effects of the repechage.
“Perhaps it’s better not to fall asleep, so to speak, because I’d have as many as two days off. The extra game came in handy. Now I just have to get myself together for Sunday and perform there as if it’s a matter of life and show the best performance in the championship.”
He added about the race itself: “The goal was the first place, which I achieved. But I didn’t go all the way, because in the second part I had a nice advantage and there were no problems. The coach will be angry about that, but I know that on Sunday it will have to be changed.”
Already on Thursday, Nina Kostanjšek won the semi-final among ski skiers, today they want to reach the semi-final through repechage Jaka Chas and Nick Krebs between the rudderless duo and the skiff Filip Matej Pfeifer.
Source: Rtvslo
