Kara Kohler eases to opening heat win on Day One of 2024 Olympic Games

PARIS, FRANCE  (July 27, 2024) — Women’s single sculler Kara Kohler of Clayton won her heat and three other U.S. crews advanced on Saturday as racing got underway at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

In the women’s single sculls, Kohler (University of California, Berkeley/USRowing Training Center – Princeton) pulled away from Austria’s Magdalena Lobnig to win the sixth and final heat to advance to Tuesday’s quarterfinals.

Lobnig got off the line in first position with Serbia’s Jovana Arsic slotting into second and Kohler in third. During the second 500 meters, Kohler passed Arsic and came up to about even with Lobnig as the scullers entered the back half of the race. Kohler methodically rowed through Lobnig in the third 500, taking a two-second advantage into the final quarter of the race before pulling away for a 6.93-second victory. Kohler clocked a 7:32.46 to win the race. Lobnig finished second in a 6:39.39, with Arsic taking the last spot in the quarterfinals in a 7:48.29.

Kohler’s time was third fastest among the six heats, although water and wind conditions can change from heat to heat so not always valid to compare times.

Confidence boost

“It’s definitely a confidence boost, so I wanted to go out and have a solid race to have some confidence moving forward,” Kohler said. “It’s definitely good to let her rip out there. Each race is going to be more intense with a lot more on the line, so I think staying present and remembering how to row with all the excitement and adrenaline is the big thing.”

The Clayton rower is in her third Olympics, having won bronze at London in 2012 in the women’s quad. She earned a spot on her third Olympic team by winning the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Rowing in early April. Kohler, a Clayton Valley High and Cal Berkeley grad, won bronze in the single at the 2019 World Rowing Championships and finished fourth in the event at last year’s world championships.

Kohler is an 11-time national team member. She faces strong opposition for the single scull medals in Paris. The Netherlands’ Karolien Florijn is the defending world champion, while New Zealand’s Emma Twigg is the 2023 world silver medalist and reigning Olympic champion. Australia’s Tara Rigney won bronze in 2023. Florijn, Rigney, and Twigg took the top three spots at the 2024 World Rowing Cup II in Lucerne, Switzerland.

Kohler finished ninth in the event in Tokyo, while Gevvie Stone won the last U.S. medal in the event, a silver at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Other US rowers advance

Men’s single sculler Jacob Plihal advanced to Tuesday’s quarterfinals thanks to a second-place finish in the fourth of six heats.

Ben Davison and Sorin Koszyk, both of California Rowing Club, finished third in the first of three heats of the men’s double sculls, qualifying directly for Tuesday’s semifinals.

In the women’s double sculls, Kristi Wagner and Sophia Vitas also finished third in their heat to move on to Tuesday’s semifinals.

The U.S. women’s quadruple sculls crew of Lauren O’Connor, Teal Cohen, Emily Delleman (Stanford University) and Grace Joyce finished fourth in the second heat and now will race in Monday’s repechage, or second-chance race.

Five more U.S. boats will hit the water for the first time in Sunday’s heats.

Medal races on Wednesday

Rowing at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 continues until Aug. 3. Heats continue on Monday, with medal races beginning on Wednesday. Click here for a complete race schedule.

In total, the U.S. qualified 12 crews for the Olympics. This includes the 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 with three Olympic medals amongst them. Thirty-eight have competed on previous senior national teams, while four will be making their senior team debuts.

USRowing thanks the national team sponsors including the Official Boat Supplier for the U.S. Senior, Under 23, and Para Rowing National Teams, Filippi Lido; our Official Apparel Provider, 776BC; their Official Partner, Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc., their Exclusive Supplement Supplier, Thorne HealthTech; their Official Performance Electronics Outfitter, Nielsen-Kellerman; the National Rowing Foundation; and TrainingPeaks, the Official Training and Coaching Software of USRowing’s High Performance Team.

USRowing provide information for today’s report.