(Corrects temperature in fourth paragraph)
TOKYO (Reuters) -Croatia’s mighty Sinkovic brothers came out on top in the men’s pair and New Zealand’s unstoppable crew triumphed in the women’s event as Olympic rowing continued Thursday at Tokyo’s blustery Sea Forest Waterway.
Martin Sinkovic and Valent Sinkovic, who won gold in the double sculls in Rio and were pairs world champions in 2018 and 2019, pulled away from the field almost immediately to win in 6:15.29, 1.29 seconds ahead of silver medallists Romania, with Denmark taking bronze.
After clinching their Wednesday semi-final in a world best time, Kiwis Grace Prendergast and Kerri Gowler again dazzled, overcoming a slow start and closing a nine-metre margin to take the lead shortly after the midway point to win in 6:50.19, with Russian Olympic Committee and Canada taking silver and bronze, respectively.
Tokyo Bay again dished out windy conditions and the heat continued to punish competitors, with temperatures hovering near 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) Thursday morning, as the sun broke through early cloud cover.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in Tokyo; Editing by Stephen Coates)
