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Sanita Puspure was flying the flag for Irish rowing when nobody else was She has done rowing and Ireland proud. She can hold her head high knowing what she has done. She has inspired young boys and young girls all over the country
Ireland’s Sanita Puspure dejected after the race. Picture: INPHO/Photosport/Steve McArthur
Thu, 29 Jul, 2021 - 13:45
Joel Slattery
Irish Rowing Team manager Feargal O Callaghan has praised two-time world champion Sanita Puspure as the Cork rower suffered a shock defeat in her women’s single sculls semi-final on Thursday morning.
Fifth place meant Ballincollig’s Puspure failed to make the final, despite expectations that the 2018 and 2019 world champion would join Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy in bringing home a medal from Japan.
Tokyo 2020: Disappointment for Sanita Puspure rte.ie - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from rte.ie Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
But from there she simply took control of a race she never looked like losing. The Kiwi eased in front of Lobnig by over a second at the halfway point, had a full boat-length on the Austrian with 500m to go and cruised over the finishing line with nearly 4.5sec to spare, with Brit Victoria Thornley (7:25.12) finishing strongly to grab second spot off Lobnig (7:25.59). Twigg of course had finished a gut-wrenching fourth in the single sculls at the last two Olympics – in London 2012 and Rio 2016 – and had initially stepped away from the sport after the last of those near-misses. But something burned at her. Gnawed at her even. And after a two-year hiatus she returned to the sport with this very moment in mind. The 2014 world champion and five-time medallist at the global event now starts the single sculls final on Friday as the warm favourite, and a near-on lock to end that quest for a first Olympic medal at her fourth attempt (she was ninth in Beijing in 2008).