The foursome of Mikhail Kushteyn, Allar Raja, Tõnu Endrekson, and Johann Poolak still have a chance of making the final and will go on to compete in the repechage stage, on Monday.

Endrekson told ERR Friday that conditions at the rowing venue in Paris remained challenging.

"Let's just say that when we practiced yesterday [Thursday], it was quite good. Today, the wind was more variable, so we had a lot of steering work to do. There were more boats on the water too, and the waves were quite significant. The challenges are there for us," Endrekson said.

Nine European teams from qualified for the Paris Olympics.

In the first heat, the Netherlands (5:41.69) and Great Britain (5:44.82) secured direct spots in final A. Germany, Norway, and Romania will continue to compete in the repechage to try to make it to final A.

In the second heat (see gallery), Italy and Poland quickly pulled ahead of Estonia and Switzerland.

By the halfway mark, the two strong teams, both considered medal contenders, had gained a lead of more than a boat's length over the second two.

Italy won the with a time of 5:43.31, followed by Poland (5:44.39), Switzerland (5:49.30) and Estonia on (5:52.04).

Italy and Poland advanced directly to the final, while Estonia and Switzerland will compete in the repechage on Monday. Two teams from that round can go through to the medals final, which takes place Wednesday.

A full list of Estonia's olympians and their events is here.

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