Olympic Rowing

Rowing is the act of propelling a boat with the sole force of oars, connected to the boat by a fixed point. In today’s sport, rowing boats compete against each other, alone or in teams.

Boat race

Initially, in Ancient Egypt, like Ancient Greece and Rome, rowing was a means of Transportation. It became a sport in England between the end of the 17th and the beginning of the 18th century. The Oxford-Cambridge University race was inaugurated in 1828. In the 19th century, rowing became popular in Europe and was exported to America.

Tip or torque

There are two competing techniques: the pair and advice. In pairs, two oars are handled by each rower, while in point, the rower handles a single OAR, with both hands. The crews of eight people have a helmsman, who governs the boat and leads the team. All the other boats are equipped with a small rudder, which one of the rowers drives with his foot, using a pedal.

The athlete of the century

Sir Steve Redgrave, an Englishman, is widely regarded as the most excellent rower in history. Six times world champion, he has won gold medals in five Olympic Games. Some see him as the athlete of the century, as rowing is physically demanding. Her female alter ego is Elisabeta Lipa, who also won five gold medals between 1984 and 2004.

Olympic history

Rowing was present at all Olympic Games except in 1896 in Athens. He was well on the program, but a rough sea forced the organizers to cancel the events.

Women entered the 1976 Games in Montreal. They’re fighting each other in a small program. The 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta marked the beginning of the lightweight events.

Until the 1960s, the United States dominated Olympic rowing. Then it was the turn of the Soviet Union to go ahead, and in turn, to give way in the years 1970-80 to the all-powerful GDR (East Germany). Currently, the reunified Germany team is still among the best in the world.

Rowing. Olympic champion Jeremie Azou ends his career

The Olympic champion and double French world champion of lightweight pair Jérémie Azou have decided to put an end to his productive career. Jérémie Azou, 28, has the best record in French rowing history. The French rower announced the end of his career at the inauguration of a naval base in his name in Avignon.

French rower Jérémie Azou, Olympic champion, and two-time world heavyweight champion took the “decision to leave the international scene” at the age of 28, the French Rowing Federation announced in a statement on Saturday. “Today, my sports objectives are fully achieved,” he explained on Saturday at the inauguration in Avignon, his hometown, of a naval base in his name.

“I think I also played my part to the end as a trainer with Pierre (Houin, aged 23, with whom he won the Olympic title in Rio in 2016, ed.),” he continued. In the French team, the lightweight group is not lacking in potential. I hope that they too will have the chance to experience the Olympic Games. »

Now based in Valenciennes, where he works as a physiotherapist, Azou was already talking about the idea of international retirement after the 2016 Olympic Games, evoking the constraints of high standards on his professional and family life. “The practice of rowing requires a lot of investment,” he said on Saturday. And the problem with the high level is that it’s impossible not to focus on it. »

Last month, during his previous international race, Azou, associated with Houin, had won a second world title, after the one won in 2015 alongside Stany Delays. He is also four times European champion in two lightweight pairs and eight times French champion in the lightweight skiff.