Estonians in Rio, Day 8: Discus throwers first runners up to podium, Laser-class sailor finishes 2nd in race, 21st overall
Discus throwers Martin Kupper and Gerd Kanter took 4th and 5th place in the men's discus throw, while Laser-class sailor Karl-Martin Rammo's strongest two races yet, coming in 2nd and 5th place, helped him end the competition in 21st place overall.
Discus: Men's discus throw
Competing in the men's discus throw, Estonians Martin Kupper and Gerd Kanter came in fourth and fifth place, having thrown distances of 66.58 meters and 65.10 meters, respectively.
With his second throw, Kupper briefly ranked second overall, which would have earned him a silver medal, however Germans Christoph Harting (68.37) and Daniel Jasinski (67.05) both managed to surpass him, and Polish discus thrower Piotr Malachowski (67.55) in turn, who had previously been in the lead, narrowly beat out Jasinski, relegating the second-place German to third and crowding Kupper off the podium altogether.
"I'll be digesting this a bit for some time, and then perhaps I'll be happier with fourth place than I am now," Kupper admitted to ETV, adding that he could already imagine the feel of the medal, but hadn't expected his fellow competitors to go all-out thus in the final round. Kupper did, however, note that Rio will serve as a fine foundation for work to be done before the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo, where the goal will be nothing short of a gold medal.
Kanter, on the other hand, told ETV that while he would not yet be retiring from the sport, Rio would be his final Olympics. "I don't see that in four years I could possibly be in the kind of shape that would help me compete for a medal," said Kanter, adding that intially he would rather look toward the World Championships in London next year — one year at a time.
Speaking to Vikerraadio, the fifth-place discus thrower admitted that he was still somewhat disappointed and that he didn't achieve the results he would have wanted, but agreed that coming in 4th and 5th at the Olympics wasn't bad either.
"Actually that was an unbelievable final round — I was sure that, after Martin took his turn, a medal at the very least was guaranteed," said Kanter. "But the German boys had such plans and both of them killed it, that was — a totally awsome performance."
Badminton: Men's singles
Following a 21:8, 21:15 loss on Friday to Dane Jan Ø. Jørgensen, ranked 5th in the world, Estonian badminton player Raul Must, ranked 40th, lost a best out of three 18:21, 21:18, 12:21 against Frenchman Brice Leverdez, who is currently just one spot ahead of him in world badminton rankings.
While Jørgensen and Leverdez will face off to determine the winner of the G Group, the Rio Games have come to an end for Must.
Sailing: Women's 49er FX (skiff)
Following the completion of their competiton's sixth race on Saturday, sailing duo Kätlin Tammiste and Anna Maria Sepp are hanging in there in 19th place overall. The Estonian sailors came in 19th, 20th, 18th and 18th place in Saturday's four races.
Following Saturday's competition day, Danish pair Jena Mai Hansen and Katja Salskov-Iversen remained in the lead, still followed by Brazilians Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze.
Sailing: Men's Laser-class
Sailor Karl-Martin Rammo rounded out his Olympic competition with his two strongest races, coming in 2nd in his ninth and 5th place in his 10th race, jumping up from 27th to come in 21st place overall.
Before Saturday, Rammo's strongest finish had been 8th place in a race on Friday.
Going into Monday's medal races, Croatian Tonči Stipanović, Australian Tom Burton and New Zealander Sam Meech currently lead the remaining competitors.
Shooting: 25m rapid fire pistol
In his Olympic debut, Peeter Olesk earned a total of 553 points over two days of competition, coming in 25th place overall.
On Friday he shot 92 (8 seconds), 92 (6 seconds) and 86 (4 seconds), earning him a total of 270 points, and on Saturday he shot 95 (8 seconds), 95 (6 seconds) and 93 (4 seconds), earning him another 283 points and bringing his total score to 553.
Speaking in an interview with ERR, Olesk admitted that the competition was far from ideal for him, noting that his results in training had gotten his hopes up. "Some mistakes were made," said Olesk, adding that competition nerves got the best of him as well. "We know now what to keep doing and to change in order to become better."
The shooting event's gold medal went to German Christian Reitz, who shot 34 points in the final; silver went to Frenchman Jean Quiquampoix, who shot 30, and Chinese Li Yuehon earned the bronze with 27 points.
Sunday: Estonia's anticipated "Trio to Rio" to hit the starting line
On Sunday, identical triplets Liina, Leila and Lily Luik will make history by being the first set of triplets to compete in an event together when they run the women's marathon beginning at 3:30 p.m.
Finn-class sailor Deniss Karpak will also compete in his event's final two races, the first of which is scheduled to begin at 7:05 p.m. With 87 points, he will head into his final day of competition ranked 17th overall.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 14*
*Note: All times listed in Eastern European Summer Time (EEST) +0300 UTC.
time | event | channel |
08:45 | Rio 2016: Competition Day Overview | ETV |
9:00 | Olympics Day 8 in Rio (repeat) | ETV |
15:20 | Athletics | Vikerraadio |
16:00 | Rio 2016: Competition Day Preview | ETV |
16:20 | Golf: Men's final | ETV |
17:50 | Tennis: Men's final; Basketball: USA-France; Badminton | ETV2 |
18:45 | Golf: Men's final; Sailing: Windsurfing medal races | ETV |
23:00 | Olympics Day 9 in Rio | ETV |
00:30 | Fencing: Team épée finals | ETV |
01:50 | Cycling: Men's track sprint | ETV |
02:05 | Athletics | Vikerraadio |
Editor: Editor: Aili Sarapik