By ,
Published November 20, 2014
The United States won its second straight gold in the women's eight. South Africa and New Zealand also took home rowing gold.
A heavily favored United States boat earned a relatively easy victory in the women's eight rowing competition -- it's the Americans' second consecutive gold, and comes after additional wins at both the 2006 and 2010 World Championships.
The American boat never really seemed in danger of losing gold: by 1,000 meters into the 2,000-meter race, their boat was well over half a boat-length ahead of any competition, and coasted easily to the win.
The gold pulls the United States temporarily even with China in the overall medal count at 30.
Here's the medal podium from the event, as well as finish times:
Gold: United States (6:10.59)
Silver: Canada (6:12.06)
Bronze: Netherlands (6:13.12)
There were two other medals awarded in rowing on the day: South Africa took gold in the men's lightweight fours, while New Zealand's boat of Nathan Cohen and Joseph Sullivan stood atop the podium in the men's double sculls, despite finishing slower than all but one boat in the B final comprised of boats fighting for the 7-12 spots who hadn't qualified for the A final through a series of repechage races. Here's who won in those events.
Men's fours
Gold: South Africa (6:02.84)
Silver: Great Britain (6:03.09)
Bronze: Denmark (6:03.16)
Men's Double Sculls
Gold: New Zealand, Joseph Sullivan/Nathan Cohen (6:31.67)
Silver: Italy, Alessio Sartori/Romano Battisti (6:32.80)
Bronze: Slovenia, Luka Spik/Iztok Cop (6:34.35)
For complete coverage of the 2012 London Olympics, visit SB Nation's Summer Olympics hub.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/united-states-wins-gold-in-womens-eight-rowing