PH rower Cris Nievarez reaches Olympics quarterfinals

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Filipino rower Cris Nievarez immediately brought pride to the country after qualifying in the quarterfinals of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics men’s single sculls.

The 21-year-old Nievarez clinched the third-place spot held at the Sea Forest Waterway after recording a time of seven minutes and 22.97 seconds.

Nievarez was behind Alexander Vyazovkin of the Russian Olympic Committee who got second place and Damir Martin of Croatia who led them all during the event.

Vyazovkin finished with a time of seven minutes and 14.95 seconds while the first-placer from Croatia had seven minutes and 9.17 seconds.

The good start for Nievarez earned him an automatic spot for the men’s single sculls quarterfinals event on Monday.

Meanwhile, the other Filipino Olympic bets will begin their campaign for the gold medal starting today and are seeking to bring back sporting glory to the Philippines.

A 33-million-pesos cash incentive awaits whoever claims the gold medal in the Olympics on top of the benefits that will be awarded by the Philippine Sports Commission.