Rower Cris Nievarez places 5th in Division D final

Cris Nievarez finished 23rd overall in his maiden Olympic journey.

By Ivan Saldajeno

MANILA--Cris Nievarez's stint in the Tokyo Olympics came to an end on Friday after finishing fifth in the Division D final of the men's single sculls rowing event at the Sea Forest Waterway in the Japanese capital.

Nievarez clocked in at seven minutes and 21.28 seconds, almost 18 seconds behind division winner Vladislav Yakovlev of Kazakhstan.

The said race is the final phase of the repechage rounds for Yakovlev, Nievarez, and company even as Nievarez, a first time Olympian, finished 23rd overall out of 32 rowers.

In the Division A final, Stefanos Ntouskos of Greece took the gold medal by finishing the race in 6:40.45, eclipsing the previous Olympic record of 6:41.34 set by Mahe Drysdale of New Zealand during the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Kjetil Borch of Norway came in second for the silver wit 6:41.66, while Damir Martin of Croatia took the bronze at the time of 6:42.58.

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