Vela Luka natives and twin sisters Ivana and Josipa Jurković won the title of world champions in the coxless pairs at the U23 World Championships held in Račice, Czech Republic.
The Jurković sisters, members of VK Trešnjevka, led in the finals from start to finish and finished in 7:17.20 minutes. The silver went to Americans Caitlin Esse and Lucy Koven who recorded 7:19.79, and the bronze to Germans Lena Sarassa and Hannah Reif with 7:22.39, reports Vecernji List.
“Winning gold has been our dream since we started rowing together. The bond between the two of us as twins is something that can be hard to explain. In Croatian rowing, brothers and sisters are the secrets of success, the best-kept secret,” said Ivana after the triumph.
The Jurković sisters were also the overall winners of the World Cup in this discipline, but they still failed to qualify for the Olympics in Tokyo. The Jurković sisters were world champions for the first time in 2017, then as juniors, but in the coxless fours together with Bruno Milinović and Izabela Krakić.
Patrik and Anton Lončarić from Osijek, world junior champions from 2017, also competed in the finals of the coxless pairs, but they were left without a medal, finishing in fourth place. The Lončarić twins passed the finish line in a time of 6:40.94 minutes, 3.38 seconds after the bronze was won by Turks Kaan Aydin and Aydin Sahin. The gold was won by Britons Calvin Tarczy and Douwe De Graaf with 6:30.73, and the silver by Lithuanians Dovydas and Domantas Stankunas with 6:33.46.
Ivan-Ante Grgić and Patrik Papac did not make it to the finals of the doubles, as they finished fifth in their group in the semifinals.
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