September 7, 2015

Moran Samuel is going to the Olympics in Rio next year, after taking the gold at the 2015 World Rowing Championships in France. Samuel, who won silver last year, rowed her way to first place in the para women’s single sculls (ASW1x) with a time of 5:25.92.

“It’s amazing to be World Champion,” Samuel said after the race. “The conditions were not the best with a bit of wind and waves, so I had to keep everything through the blade and the water very strong. It’s a good time to congratulate my competitors; they gave me a good push. I knew they were pushing hard and I got the motivation to push harder. And though it was hard, I am so happy that this is the result and I feel so good about it. All the work paid off. I thank France for the great hospitality.”

Second place went to Great Britain’s Rachel Morris ( 5:27.02 ) and Birgit Skarstein of Norway, the 2014 World Champion, took bronze ( 5:31.94).

Samuel won Israel’s only medal at the international competition that wrapped up on September 6.

 

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