Lightweight Double Sculls, Women

Romania’s Constanţa Burcică and Camelia Macoviciuc were the reigning Olympic and World Champions in the women’s lightweight double sculls, and had also taken bronze at the 1997 and 1998 Worlds, but Burcică switched partners to Angela Alupei shortly prior to the 2000 Summer Olympics. Nonetheless this duo was considered the favorite, as its strongest challengers at the Worlds had tended to be inconsistent. Burcică and Alupei won their heats in the opening round, as did Germany, the 1997 World Champions and 1998 runners-up, and the United States, the 1999 runners-up. The United States was represented by its 1999 World silver medal-winners, Christine Collins and Sarah Garner, while Germany sent a fresh squad consisting of Valerie Viehoff and Claudia Blasberg. Romania and Germany met in the semi-finals, at which the former triumphed with ease, while the Americans won their own easier heat. In the final, the Germans mounted a surprisingly strong challenge to the Romanians but, in the end, missed out on the gold medal by 0.31 seconds, taking silver instead. The United States was far behind these two, but still over five and a half seconds ahead of its nearest competitors, and thus captured bronze.