Four Norwegians surprised themselves and their country when they rowed their way to victory at the World Rowing Championships in Chungju, South Korea over the weekend. Nils Jakob Hoff was so excited that he stood up in the boat to acknowledge cheering fans.
“We couldn’t believe it,” Hoff told news bureau NTB. “When we crossed the goal, I went crazy.”
He and Kjetil Borch won the gold in the men’s double sculls on Sunday, ahead of the duos from Lithuania and Italy. It was the second gold medal haul for Norway, after Are Strandli and Kristofer Brun won the lightweight men’s double on Saturday.
“This is a fantastic new start for Norwegian rowing,” Hoff said, giving lots of credit to their Swedish coach Johan Flodin. It was the first time in 10 years that the Norwegians had won rowing gold medals in world championship competition.
newsinenglish.no staff
