McElroy hails Puspure’s effort

Rowing Ireland’s High Performance Director Martin McElroy is convinced Sanita Puspure can build on her Olympic performance as she plots a course to the Rio Games in 2016.

Puspure won the Single Sculls C final on Saturday in 7:59.77, almost eight seconds clear of Zimbabwean Micheen Thornycroft. The result left the former Latvian champion 13th overall in the Olympic standings.

“Even if she had made the semis she would have been still coming home around 11th or 12th of the 12.

“But by contesting the C final she had the opportunity to race down the Olympic course with 35,000 people cheering her on. She finished in the right zone that we had predicted between 11th and 13th in the overall rankings. She is a very pragmatic person who battled hard to get into the Olympics.