02. Sep 2012 | Wettkampfsport | von Débora Meier-Feutren, FISA Communications Manager

China tops medals table at second ever Paralympic Rowing Regatta

On the third and final day of racing at the 2012 Paralympic Rowing Regatta, China topped the medals table, winning gold in two of the four Paralympic boat classes on the Eton Dorney regatta course.
China's Cheng Huang had set a new World Best Time on Friday, winning his heat in the AS Men's Single Sculls (ASM1x) in a time of 4:45.02. In today's A-final Huang finished convincingly ahead of the field with Australia's Erik Horrie and Russia's Aleksey Chuvashev crossing the line in a photo finish to take silver and bronze respectively. Multi World Champion and 2008 Paralympic Champion Tom Aggar from Great had been unbeaten in this event since 2007 and finished outside the medals in fourth.
In the TA Mixed Double Sculls (TAMix2x), China's 2011 World Champions Xiaoxian Lou and Tianming Fei were the favourites, especially after having set a new World Best Time on the first day of racing at Eton Dorney. Today the Chinese again proved their supremacy and overtook the French duo who had taken the initial lead to claim the title of Paralympic Champions. France's Perle Bouge and Stephane Tardieu, two-time world silver medallists, added Paralympic silver to their medal collection, with newcomers Oksana Masters and Robert Jones of the USA taking bronze.
In the AS Women's Single Sculls (ASW1x), Ukraine's Alla Lysenko maintained her unbeaten winning streak in this boat class, finishing comfortably ahead of France's Nathalie Benoit who crossed the line in silver. Liudmila Vauchok of Belarus just edged out Brazil's Claudia Santos to take bronze.
Great Britain took the final gold medal at this Paralympic Rowing Regatta in an exciting race for the line against Germany in the LTA Mixed Coxed Four (LTAMix4+). Naomi Riches, the longest standing member in this crew, already had five World Championship titles and one Paralympic bronze from 2008 to her name. Riches now earned the title of Paralympic Champion along with crewmates Pamela Relph, David Smith, James Roe and Lily van den Broecke. The British crew were followed by Germany and Ukraine in the silver and bronze medal positions.
Following China on the medals table is Ukraine with one gold and one bronze medal, and Great Britain in third position with one gold medal.