(BEIJING, August 16) -- Rumyana Neykova of Bulgaria won gold in the Women's Single Sculls on the first day of medal races in Shunyi, finishing in 7:22.34 to hold off Michella Guerette of the United States by 0.44 seconds. Bronze went to Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus who finished in 7:23.98.
Neykova nearly beat pre-regatta favorite Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus in the semifinals, falling short by just 0.43 seconds. But the tables were turned in he final, as Neykova grabbed the narrow victory and handed Karsten her first defeat in the Single Sculls since 2005.
Miroslava Knapkova of the Czech Republic was in the lead for the first half of the race, but fell behind and finished in fifth. US rower Guerette in contrast was at the back of the pack for the first half of the race, but pushed into third at the 1500m and missed gold by a hair.
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