Cuban rower Ángel Fournier is hoping to reach the final of the Men’s single sculls open weight at this year’s World Championship in Aiguebelette, France, in order to ensure his ticket to the Río2016 Summer Olympics.
The quarterfinals narrowed down the number of competitors, and Fournier finished third in the Men's Single Sculls Quarterfinal Q1, after covering two kilometers with a time of 6:59.73 minutes.
During the first three quarters of the competition, the athlete from Guantanamo held second place behind Lithuanian winner Mindaugas Griskonis (6:54,550), but Norwegian Olaf Tufte (6:57,960) surpassed him in the last 500 meters.
Other rowers to easily qualify were New Zealander Mahe Drysdale (6:57.440), Czech Ondrej Synek (6:55.800), Britain’s Alan Campbell (6:57.620) and Hannes Obreno of Belgium (6:59.140), all of whom are accustomed to finishing at the top and are major rivals for the Cuban 27 year old, with a height of 1.98 meters and weighing 100kg.
Fournier will face Synek, Griskonis and Obreno, along with the less dangerous Natan Wegrzycki Szymczyk of Poland and Sverri Nielsen of Denmark, in the next heat.
