(Paris 2024) Rower Chiu Hin-chun finishes 4th in heats, enters repechage

Hong Kong rower Chiu Hin-chun finished fourth in his heat in the men’s single sculls event at the Paris 2024 Olympics rowing competition on Saturday, advancing to the repechage round scheduled for Sunday.

Chiu, a two-time Olympian, clocked 7:00.29 over 2000m for a fourth-place finish among five rowers in Heat 1 at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.

The top three rowers from his heat - Denmark’s Sverri Nielsen (6:53.50), Kristian Vasilev of Bulgaria (6:56.63) and Hungary’s Bendeguz Pal Petervari Molnar (6:58.76) - qualified for the quarter-finals.

A total of 33 rowers competed in the men’s single sculls event across six heats. The top three rowers from each of the six heats automatically qualified for the quarter-finals.

Rowers who finished from fourth to sixth in their men’s single sculls heats will have a second chance to qualify for the quarter-finals through the repechage round. The fastest two in each of the three repechage heats on Sunday will qualify for the quarter-finals.

Chiu said he was satisfied with his performance, which he described as "above-average".

"Finishing in seven minutes is a rather good time. I had the fastest time [going into the repechage] out of all six heats, so I hope I can perform like this again in the repechage.

"It's a pity that I was so close yet so far, and missed the quarter-finals by one spot." He told Hong Kong reporters at the venue after his heat.