If you want definitive proof that Sanita Puspure had the toughest quarter-final, then look no further.
The Cork/Latvian rower needed to finish in the top three in her race on Tuesday to progress to the for the A/B semi-finals of the women’s single sculls, but she missed out by the slimmest of margins.
Puspure really turned on the afterburners in the latter stages, but her surge just came too late as she finished fourth by just 0.65 of a second in a ridiculously competitive race.
To illustrate how tough the quarter final was, you just have to look at who she was up against. World Champion Kimberley Brennan took the top spot, Chinese rower Duan Jingli of China, who took bronze at last year’s World Championships finished second and Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus, who’s a veteran of seven Olympic Games edged her out in third.
Agonisingly, her race was the fastest quarter-final and her time of 7:28.68 would have been enough for her to qualify from each of the other three races.
She would have won the first race by about two seconds.
Puspure would have claimed second in the next one.
And she would have cruised home to victory in the third.
After finishing fourth, Puspure enters into the C/D semi-finals, with her best hope is placing 13th in the overall standings.
