AGERPRES special corespondent, Adrian Tone, reports: Romanian rower Gianina van Groningen said, on Friday, after winning the silver medal at the Paris Olympics, in women’s double rowing, light category, that in the final she gave everything, until the last drop of energy.

“It was a very good, very hard race. We left everything on the water, from the first to the last stroke. Unfortunately, today Great Britain was better, but we are very happy for this result. At the third Olympic edition and the last one for this light category we took the Olympic silver and it is a very big result for us and for Romania. We are proud of the result we got, because we gave everything, we didn’t leave any reserve, no energy there. And I’m really proud of what we managed to do. It’s a goal we’re both proud of, because we’ve decided to do our best races and what’s next the finish will be a bonus. And that’s what I did. I’m very proud of the races I’ve done and the result I’ve achieved at the end, because it’s a hard work,” stated Van Groningen.

Visibly drained of energy due to the effort and the stifling heat, the athlete said that she did not even realize who were the last boats that crossed the finish line.

“Olympic races are shiny and heavy like a medal. After a very hard 2,000 meters race, yes, we are as good as we can be. We were good, we felt in shape. We were prepared, but now we are clearly tired. We need to calm down a little physically and mentally,” she added.

Gianina van Groningen said that once she got this medal she paid off a duty she had to fulfill.

Romanian rowers Gianina van Groningen and Ionela Cozmiuc won the silver medals in the women’s double rowing event, light category, on Friday, at the Olympic Games in Paris.