A young gun of world rowing had too much in the tank for Emma Twigg, but she held on for the silver. Photo / Rowing NZ
A young gun of world rowing had too much in the tank for Emma Twigg, but she held on for the silver. Photo / Rowing NZ
A young gun of world rowing had too much in the tank for Emma Twigg, as the Olympic single sculls champion had to settle for silver in her final at the world rowing championships.
The 35-year-old from Hawke's Bay was beaten by 24-year-old Karolien Florijn of the Netherlands in thefinal on Monday morning (NZ time) in Racice, Czech Republic.
It capped an unbeaten year for Florijn – her first in the senior single scull class – after she also triumphed at two World Cup regattas and the recent European Championships.
Twigg claimed gold at the Tokyo Olympics but hasn't had as much time on the water this season because of Covid-19 and other commitments.
In fact, Twigg, a veteran of the sport, was racing just her third race of the season and immediately had to deal with the fast-starting, row-from-the-front race plan of Florijn.
Twigg, at 35, builds into a race and just after the 1000m mark launched her attack on the Dutch athlete's half-boat length lead, but couldn't make inroads.
Emma Twigg congratulates Karolien Florijn of the Netherlands. Photo / Rowing NZ
"When you don't have quite the legs to last the second half of the race, it's always going to be hard to hang on," Twigg said.
She estimated she was competing at about 80 per cent of her capacity and said a silver is a good indicator of what she's still capable of with the Paris Olympics two years away.
The silver from Twigg left New Zealand with three medals from the regatta after Kerri Williams and Grace Prendergast won gold in the women's pair and Jackie Kiddle took bronze in the lightweight women's single.
