Paris 2024 Rowing: Karolien Florijn claims women's single sculls gold, dethrones Emma Twigg - full results
Karolien Florijn dethroned Emma Twigg in the women’s single sculls final to add to her family’s remarkable collection of Olympic gold rowing medals.
The 26-year-old Dutchwoman is the two-time reigning world champion and won her first Olympic gold with a time of 7:17.28 to finish ahead of New Zealand’s Twigg (7:19.14), while Viktorija Senkute (7:20.85) won Lithuania's first-ever rowing medal with a dramatic bronze at Paris 2024.
Florijn’s victory comes after her brother, Finn Florijn, won gold in men's quadruple sculls earlier this week, while their father Ronald Florijn is a two-time Olympic champion – winning at 1988 Seoul and 1996 Atlanta.
Karolien Florijn of Team Netherlands celebrates winning Gold after competing in the Women's Single Sculls Finals
The rowing genes are strong within the Florijn clan, with Karolien’s mother Antje Rehaag a 1994 world champion and Olympic rower in her own right.
Karolien, meanwhile, was already an Olympic medallist before heading to Paris, having won silver in the coxless four at Tokyo 2020.
She returned to single sculls action a year later, going on to win both the world and European Championships in 2022 and 2023.
Florijn was therefore the class of the field, even with Tokyo 2020 champion Twigg for company.
The duo had won their respective semi-finals on Thursday, where Lithuania’s Senkute also showed she could be a contender.
But come the final on Saturday morning, Florijn was half a length ahead inside 200m, and then led Twigg by more than a length at the first 500m checkpoint – 1.46 seconds in front.
All three medal positions looked to have been decided by the halfway mark, with Twigg looking strong for silver ahead of Australia’s Tara Rigney, while the remaining three boats were further back - including Senkute.
Twigg showed signs of fight, narrowing the gap on Florijn, and the noise levels rose as the New Zealander edged back into contention.
Florijn was just half a length in front with 500m to go, but masterminded the final section to stay in front of Twigg, while it was heartbreak for Rigney but joy for Senkute, who fought back to win bronze by just 0.53 seconds.
Women’s single sculls final, Paris 2024
Gold: Karolien Florijn, Netherlands
Silver: Emma Twigg, New Zealand
Bronze: Viktorija Senkute, Lithuania