Dara Alizadeh Wins E/F Semi-Final In Paris
[Written by Stephen Wright]
Bermuda rower Dara Alizadeh experienced his first victory in an Olympic Games race after winning his E/F semi-final at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium today [July 29].
Alizadeh, who competes in the men’s single sculls, claimed a comfortable win, finishing his two-kilometre race in 7min 33.38sec.
The 30-year-old said he was encouraged by how he executed his game plan and always felt in control of proceedings.
“Knowing who was in the race, and seeing how they’ve done this week, and knowing their race tactics, I had a pretty firm grasp on how the race would unfold,” Alizadeh told Bernews.
“I was able to get out well and was in control of the race pretty quickly.
Screenshot from the NBC broadcast showing Dara Alizadeh as the winner of the E/F semi-final
“I said, ‘OK, the goal here is to deliver a strong race. By halfway, I could respond to what everyone else was doing.”
The former Cambridge University student, who has been joined in Paris by his coach, Rob Baker, has a three-day break before returning to the water for the E final on Friday.
“There’s a lot of racing, so there’s fatigue, and the headwind conditions can pound you and get you down,” Alizadeh, who also competed at the 2020 Tokyo Games.
“Yesterday [in the repechage race], I had to give it a full stick. When you’re fully gassed and have to sprint at the end, that’s exponentially more fatigue.
“I try to mitigate that with cooldowns and massages. That’s the reality of it. Plus, everyone else has fatigue, too.
“I’m just trying to manage that. Today, I thought about form and execution more than the time.”
The Bermudian rower will be back in action this Friday.
The full Olympics Men’s Single Sculls Semi-Final E/F results follows below [PDF here]. This E/F Semi-Final is held to determine final places, another final is held to determine the Medalists
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