Karolien Florijn and Oliver Zeidler compete in gold and individual scull

Paris. Dutch rower Karolien Florijn won the Olympic women’s single sculls final on Saturday with a time of 7:17.28. New Zealander Emma Twigg took silver and Lithuanian Viktorija Senkute bronze.

In turn, the world champion, the German Oliver Zeidler, was crowned in the postponed men’s event ahead of the Belarusian rower from the Neutral Individual Athletes (NIA) team, Yauheni Zalaty (silver), and the Dutchman Simon van Dorp (bronze).

Meanwhile, Romania won the women’s coxed eight final and Great Britain took gold in the men’s event with a formidable performance from start to finish.

With the women’s single sculls starting the final day, 26-year-old Florijn made a strong start in the early part of the race at the Stade Nautique in Vaires-sur-Marnes, east of Paris, before Tokyo champion Twigg closed the gap to half a boatlength past the 2,000-metre mark.

However, as the 37-year-old New Zealander began to tire, Florijn gradually pulled away in the final 500 metres to secure victory by a margin of 1.86 seconds.

Behind them, the race for bronze turned into a thrilling duel, with Senkute coming on strong in the final quarter of the course and overtaking Australia’s Tara Rigney on her final stroke.

“It means a lot to me, winning a gold medal is what I wanted since I was born and to do it in the women’s single sculls, among the best rowers in the world,” said Florijn, her voice breaking.

“Emma pushed me until the last few metres, she really wanted to get a second gold medal. I feel very inspired by her, she is one of the best rowers in the world and of course I really wanted to win and I did,” she added.

Just before the women’s race was due to start, Olympic officials announced that the men’s singles rowing final would be delayed as traffic congestion had prevented athletes from reaching the venue on time.

The rest of the races went according to plan, with world champions Romania controlling the women’s coxed eight from the start and Canada holding off a strong push from the Great Britain crew to take the silver medal, 0.67 seconds ahead of the British, who took bronze.

The men’s race became a fascinating tactical battle as the British swept the opening 500 metres and then, spurred on by helmsman Harry Brightmore, held on for victory despite a strong challenge from the Dutch.

The American crew, widely tipped to win the gold medal, struggled in the early part of the race and never recovered, finishing third.

Ultimately, the delayed men’s sculls race was the last of the Games and a stone-faced Zeidler dominated from start to finish before breaking down in tears after winning gold.