About 5 1/2 minutes after the six finalists left the starting line, everything had changed.
Germany had picked up another silver, Great Britain had to settle for bronze, and the Kiwis had emphatically proven that they hadn’t caught lightning in a bottle in Tokyo; they really are that fast.
New Zealand’s golden time of five minutes and 24.64 seconds edged the Germans by slightly less than a second, beat the defending champion by slightly more than a second, and more than two seconds clear of the United States, which finished fourth.
Canada tops new-look podium in women’s eights
At Rio 2016, the U.S. women’s eight captured its third consecutive Olympic gold medal in the event, with Great Britain earning silver, Romania bronze.