PH rower Cris Nievarez out of medal race in Tokyo

Filipino Olympian rower Cris Nievarez. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Cris Nievarez is out of the race for a medal after placing fifth in his heat in the quarterfinals of the men’s rowing single sculls event of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics at Sea Forest Waterway Sunday.

The Filipino bet clocked in at 7:50.74, almost 34 seconds behind third placer Mondaugas Griskonis of Lithuania who finished the course with a time of 7:16.71

Nievarez needed to place in the top three of his heat to advance to the A/B semifinals, the penultimate round for the podium finishes. Instead, he was relegated to the C/D bracket where he will compete for his final place in the event.

Despite his exit from medal contention, Nievarez still made history as the first Filipino rower to reach the quarterfinals.

Germany’s Oliver Zeidler led the heat with a time of 7:12.75 while Brazil’s Luca Ferreira Verthein came in second at 7:14.26.

RELATED STORIES

A longshot for an Olympic medal, Nievarez rows to put his sport in the spotlight

Nievarez sends off bright gold hopes by going where no Filipino has ever gone before