Explainer | Paris Olympics 2024: what to know and who to watch during the rowing competition
- The sport is among those leading the way in gender equality, with the same number of events for men and women, and has its share of characters
Hong Kong will have a presence in the rowing this summer, with Chiu Hin-chun competing in the men’s single sculls.
The 29-year-old last raced at an Olympics in 2016, when he competed in the men’s lightweight double sculls in Rio de Janeiro alongside Tang Chiu-mang.
He comes into the Games having won a bronze medal at the Asian Games last year, and a first gold medal for the city at World Rowing Cup II in May.
Athletes to watch
Meghan Musnicki (United States): The 41-year-old two-time gold medallist is set to become the oldest American woman to row at the Olympics. Lisa Schlenker was 39 when she competed in Athens in 2004. Musnicki is the last active link to the US women’s eight dynasty that won every Olympic and world title from 2006 to 2016.
Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy (Ireland): The defending world and Olympic champions in lightweight double sculls. O’Donovan and his brother, Gary O’Donovan, gave the Irish their first Olympic medal in rowing at the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016, and then gave a memorable “podium pants” interview to RTE Sport.
Marloes Oldenburg (Netherlands): The 36-year-old Oldenburg will be competing in Paris two years after breaking her neck in a life-threatening bike crash.
