Tokyo Olympics: ‘Calm’ Nievarez eyes top 3 finish to enter next round in rowing

Cris Nievarez hopes his stint in the Olympics will raise rowing’s profile in the country. PHOTO COURTESY OF CRIS NIEVAREZ

MANILA, Philippines— Cris Nievarez is eyeing another top three finish in the quarterfinals on Sunday of the men’s single sculls in the rowing competition of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The 21-year-old is looking to book a spot in the A-B semifinals in a field against rowers from Germany, Lithuania, Brazil, New Zealand, and Iraq.

Magnum Membrere, the Philippine Rowing Association treasurer, said that Nievarez is calmly approaching the quarterfinals of his first Olympic Games.

“Like in the heats, Cris is targeting a top three finish to progress to the next round,” said Membrere, as per the Philippine Sports Commission. “He’s calm and focused on his target.”

Nievarez clocked 7:22.97 for the third spot in Heat 5 of the men’s single sculls on Friday behind Croatia’s Damir Martin, the 2016 Olympics silver medalist, who finished with a time of 7:09.17 for first place and Russia’s Alexander Vyazovkin who completed the course in second at 7:14.95.

In the same quarterfinals are Germany’s Oliver Zeidler, a European and world champion, and Lithuania’s Mindaugas Griskonis, who finished second in his own heat on Friday.

Both Zeidler and Griskonis also tower over the 5-foot-11 Nievarez with the German standing at 6-foot-8 and the Lithuanian at 6-foot-2.

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