Croatia, New Zealand triumph in men's and women's pairs at Olympics Rowing

Croatia's mighty Sinkovic brothers came out on top in the men's pair and New Zealand's unstoppable crew triumphed in the women's event as Olympic rowing continued on Thursday at Tokyo's blustery Sea Forest Waterway.

Martin Sinkovic and Valent Sinkovic, who won gold in the double sculls in Rio and were pairs world champions in 2018 and 2019, pulled away from the field almost immediately to win in 6:15.29, 1.29 seconds ahead of silver medallists Romania, with Denmark taking bronze.

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After clinching their Wednesday semi-final in a world best time, Kiwis Grace Prendergast and Kerri Gowler again dazzled, overcoming a slow start and taking the lead shortly after the midway point to win in 6:50.19, with the Russian Olympic Committee team and Canada taking silver and bronze.

Ireland delivered a gutsy performance to win the lightweight men's double sculls, as Rio silver medallist Paul O’Donovan and team mate Fintan McCarthy broke away from Germany heading into the home stretch to claiming gold in 6:06.43.

Italy finished a distant third.

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Thursday’s medal races ended in dramatic fashion as Italy pulled off a stunning victory in the final moments of the lightweight women's double sculls ahead of France and the Netherlands.

Britain missed out on the podium by a hundredth of a second.

Tokyo Bay again dished out windy conditions and the heat continued to punish competitors, with temperatures hovering near 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) Thursday morning, as the sun broke through early cloud cover.