Karolien Flijn, a Dutch rower, won the final of women's single-sculls in 7:17.28. Emma Twigg from New Zealand took silver while Lithuanian Viktorija Senkute was awarded bronze.

Oliver Zeidler, a German world champion and neutral athlete from Belarus, won the men's delayed race. He was followed by Simon van Dorp of Holland and Yauheni Zalaty of Belarus.

Romania won the women's 8s final in a dominant manner, while Britain took home gold for the men in the large boat after putting on a fantastic performance from start to finish.

Florijn (26), the 26-year-old woman from the Netherlands, started the day's finals with a strong start at Vaires-sur Marnes. Tokyo Champion Twigg then closed the distance to half of a length after reaching the halfway point of the 2,050 metre race.

Florijn, a 37-year old Kiwi athlete began to tire and gradually pulled ahead over the last 500 meters to win by 1.86 seconds.

The race for the bronze medal behind them became a thrilling thriller. Senkute came on strongly over the last quarter of the track to beat Australia's Tara Rigney by her final stroke.

Florijn's voice trailed off as she said: "It is a great honor for me. I have always wanted to win a gold in women's singlesculls and I did it. I am among the top rowers of the world ..."."

She added, "Emma was pushing me to the very last metres. She really wanted a gold medal. I am so inspired by Emma, because she is one of the world's best rowers. Of course, I wanted to be the winner and, of course, I did.

Olympic officials announced just before the start of the women's race that the final for men's single-sculls would be postponed due to traffic jams making it impossible for the athletes to arrive at the venue in time.

Canada won the silver medal by 0.67 seconds over the British crew, which took the bronze. The other races were run as scheduled, with the world champions Romania taking control of the race from the start in the eights for women.

Harry Brightmore, the coxswain, led the British to victory in the men's race. The Dutch were a close second.

The American crew, which was considered a favourite for the gold, struggled to recover in the first part of the race and finished in third position.

Zeidler, a man with an unwavering stare from the start of the race until the finish line when the men's sculls won gold, burst into tears. Reporting by Philip O'Connor, Editing by Peter Rutherford & Alison Williams

(source: Reuters)