Puspure takes bronze for Ireland

Irish Olympian Sanita Puspure won a bronze medal in a thrilling women’s single sculls final at the European Rowing Championships in Belgrade, Serbia yesterday.

Latvian native Puspure, who missed most of last season through illness, was well in contention from the start as the race developed into a three-way battle between her, Mirka Knapkova and Chantal Achterberg.

In a sensational final 50 metres, Olympic champion Knapkova (Czech Republic) held out for victory while Achterberg (The Netherlands) produced a storming surge to pip Puspure on the line by two hundredths of a second.