On the final day, the Belarusian rowers performed in the B finals, claiming licenses to the 2016 Olympics in two out of three classes. Overall, our sportsmen won four licenses in France to the world’s major event. In the W2х, experienced Yekaterina Karsten and Yulia Bichik finished third in the B finals but were placed ninth overall, for their A finals results, joining another 10 teams heading to the Olympics.
The Belarusian participants in the singles finals had a more complicated task, needing to finish among the top ten rowers and no lower than third place in the second most significant finals. Stanislav Shcherbachenya met the criteria: in the М1х, he won the B finals, though remained in the shadows for much of his 2km distance. In the final spurt, he left his rivals behind, including the British rower, who had confidently headed the distance. In a photo finish, Stanislav was ahead by 0.110 seconds and, in the final protocol, was placed seventh.
In the women’s W1х, Belarusian Tatiana Kukhta failed to repeat the success of her colleague. In the B finals, she initially performed well but, in the second half of the distance, dropped back, finishing fourth (in 7 minutes and 27.860 seconds), occupying tenth position overall.
Our Belarusian rowers also won Olympic licenses in two other classes: Yelena Krivosheenko and Inna Nikulina in the W2, and Igor Pashevich, Nikolay Sharlap, Denis Migal and Vadim Lyalin in the М4. However, for the second year in a row, our Belarusians failed to bring home any medals from the World Academic Rowing Championship.
By Igor Leshin
