Kara Kohler wants to put her 2021 Tokyo disappointment behind her in Thursday’s single sculls semi-finals at Paris Olympics

PARIS, FRANCE (July 31, 2024) — Kara Kohler has waited three years to put her bitter 2021 Tokyo Olympics disappointment behind her and she can do just that in Thursday’s single sculls semi-finals in Paris.

The Clayton rower missed making the medal race at the 2020 Olympics — which were held without an audience a year late due to COVID-19 — when she finished less than one second out of second place and half a second out of third in the semi-finals race where the top three rowers earned spots in the gold medal finals.

The Cal Berkeley and Clayton Valley High grad had handily moved through the Tokyo heats and quarterfinals before she fell milliseconds short of reaching the finals. The three rowers finishing ahead of her in the semi-finals took first, third and fourth in the medal race.

This Thursday at 12:40 a.m. Pacific time (9:40 a.m. local Paris time) Kohler will line up in lane 2 (of 6) looking to finish in the top 3 in orders to make the Paris medal finals race Saturday morning. The single sculls semi-finals will be telecast on Peacock.

Semi-finals

Kohler is in the second of the two semi-final races will race in the second of two semifinals on Thursday. After easily winning her heat, she finished second in her quarterfinal behind Australia’s Tara Rigney to reach the semis. Kohler will take on scullers from New Zealand, Lithuania, Germany, Austria and Individual Neutral Athlete in Thursday’s second semi.

In the semi, Kohler’s opponents include New Zealand’s Emma Twigg, the defending Olympic champion, and Lithuania’s Viktorija Senkute, who each won their quarterfinals.

Twigg won the Tokyo semi-final that included Kohler while and Magdalena Lobnig of Austria, who is also in Thursday’s semi-final, took third in that 2021 race by .51 seconds over Kohler. As if Kohler needed any more incentive, two of the three scullers who denied her a finals spot in Tokyo will be in Thursday’s race.

Kohler trained leading up to Paris at the USRowing Training Center – Princeton. The three-time Olympian finished fourth in the event at the 2023 World Rowing Championships. She won bronze in the quad at the 2012 London Olympics.

US crews in action Thursday

Five U.S. crews and Kohler will be in action on Thursday, including three in medals races.

The men’s four of advanced to the final off a dominant performance in their heat. The crew will take on Italy, Great Britain, New Zealand, Australia and Romania in the medal race. New Zealand won the other heat. The U.S. finished fifth in the event in Tokyo. They last won a medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, taking home a bronze.

The men’s double sculls crew of Ben Davison and Sorin Koszyk both from California Rowing Club finished second in its semifinal to advance to Thursday’s race for the medals. Davison and Koszyk will take on crews from the Netherlands, Ireland, New Zealand, Spain and Romania. The Dutch and Irish boats won the two semifinals. The U.S. has reached the final in the event for the first time since the 2004 Olympics in Athens. The U.S. last won a medal in the event in 1984.

The women

The women’s four won their repechage to advance to Thursday’s final. The Americans will take on crews from China, New Zealand, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Romania in the final. Great Britain and the Netherlands won the opening round heats to advance to the final. The U.S. finished seventh in the event in Tokyo in its return to the Olympic program.

The women’s eight finished second in its heat behind Romania. Now they will race in the repechage on Thursday against Italy, Australia, Canada and Denmark, with the top four finishers moving on to Saturday’s final.

In the women’s double sculls, Kristi Wagner and Sophia Vitas finished fifth in their semifinal and now will race in the B final for overall places 7-12. Wagner and Vitas will take on Italy, Ireland, Australia, Czech Republic and China.

Click here for a complete race schedule.

12 crews competing

In total, the U.S. qualified 12 crews for the Olympics. This includes Kohler in women’s single sculls, men’s single sculls, women’s double sculls, men’s double sculls, lightweight women’s double sculls, women’s quadruple sculls, women’s pair, men’s pair, women’s four, men’s four, women’s eight and men’s eight. The U.S. leads the way with Romania in qualifying the most boats to race in Paris.

Of the 42 athletes who will be competing in Paris, 17 are returning Olympians. Kohler and two-time gold medalist in the eights Meghan Musnicki own the only Olympic medals among the American rowers in Paris. Thirty-eight have competed on previous senior national teams, while four made their senior team debuts.

USRowing supplied some information for this report.