Single Sculls, Women

East Germany had won the women’s single sculls at three of the last four World Championships, twice with their representative at the 1988 Summer Olympics, Jutta Behrendt. She was considered the favorite for the event, although the reigning World Champion, Magdalena Georgieva of Bulgaria, could not be ruled out for the gold medal. Romania, the defending Olympic champion, sent Marioara Popescu-Ciobanu, a 1984 Olympic champion in the double sculls and 1987 World bronze medalist, who was also a threat in Seoul. The opening heats were won by Anne Marden of the United States, Behrendt, and Georgieva, the latter of whom posted the fastest time of the round. The Bulgarian repeated this feat in the semi-finals during a heat in which she faced Popescu-Ciobanu, while Behrendt won the second heat against Marden. In the final, however, Behrendt was clearly dominant and captured the gold medal by a margin of over three seconds ahead of the American. Marden, the runner-up, was even further ahead of Georgieva, who experienced difficulties during the final and was forced to settle for bronze.