Tiraspol, February 23. /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. Pridnestrovian rower Ivan Korshunov is bronze medalist of the World Youth Rowing Championship. Athlete from Tiraspol finished 0.5 seconds faster than other Pridnestrovian team member, Alexander Bulat. As a result, our rowers are neighbors in the finish line.
“Generally, I did my personal record in time, but I am still not satisfied with the race. As soon as I started my performance, I felt that rowing was much harder than usual. The rivals were not very far away, that's why it was upsetting. If I had raised the finish line a little earlier, I would have got the second one. If I had gone the distance a little better, then I would be not far from the first one. But what happened happened. The race was tough, everyone came closely, the medals` fate was decided at the finish. Now all that remains is to draw conclusions that there is room for improvement, take our mistakes into account and further improve the results," Ivan Korshunov commented on his achievement philosophically.
This year, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the fight for world medals took place in an unusual format - online. The best rowers competed on the Concept-2 stationary rowers. Each participant was at home or at the rowing club. During the race, all the results were displayed on the scoreboard, and the competition could only be followed by broadcasting on YouTube.
“After five continental qualifying events that took place from December 2020 to 7 February 2021. According to its results, there were selected 935 finalists from 63 countries,” rowing coach, Konstantin Gamalitsky explained.
The specialist also drew attention to one of the problems in organizing such a global virtual event - these are different time zones. The organizers nevertheless ensured that all athletes competed live and in real time.
“This is one of the many unique aspects of live virtual racing. Not going to another country and adjusting to the local time zone, but competing right from home. Today the final race began at noon CET. And so it was all the days of competition," Konstantin Gamalitsky said.
Pridnestrovian coaches expect a real result from the virtual race this Saturday as well. On February 27, Kirill Vysotsky-Shestakov will toe the starting line online. The rower will compete for the medal of the Adult World Championship. In the same digital format.
