CRIS NIEVAREZ saw his Tokyo Olympics dream get washed away at Tokyo Bay after crashing out of the men’s singles sculls semifinals at the World Rowing Asia and Oceania Olympic and Paralympic Qualification Regatta at the Sea Forest Waterway in Japan on Friday.
Nievarez did better over the 2,000-meter race with a time of seven minutes and 37.55 seconds—he clocked 8:11.40 in Thursday’s heats—but his effort was not enough to gain qualification for Tokyo.
“We started training only last January and we did our best, but we are very happy to compete here,” the 21-year-old Nievarez of Atimonan (Quezon) told BusinessMirror. “We will just accept our fate for now, and then prepare for Paris [2024].”
Only the top five rowers will earn tickets to Tokyo.
“It’s too bad that Cris faced the world’s strongest rowers. But lessons learned, we look forward to Paris 2024,” said Philippine Rowing Association President Patrick “Pato” Gregorio said.
Nievarez’s time was good for fifth place in his side of the semifinals, but ranked ninth in the 12-athlete penultimate race.
Japan’s Ryuta Arakawa (7:01.59) won the gold medal for an Olympic slot, along with silver medalist Iran’s Bahman Nasiri (7:08.98), bronze medalist Kazakhstan’s Vladislav Yakovlev (7:09.85), fourth placer India’s Jakar Khan (7:10.42) and fifth placer Uzbekistan’s Mehkrojbek Mamatkulov (7:17.96).
“We really need to train harder and our opponents are very competitive here. Maybe in the next Olympics,” Head C oach Edgardo Macabitas Maerina said. “Cris is very young and he’s still going to improve.”
The country’s doubles sculls bets—Melcah Jen Caballero and Jonie Delgaco and Zueriel Sumintac and Roque Abala Jr.—were eliminated early in the tournament.