(15 Jun 1997) English/Nat
An American rowing team stunned five other foreign teams by winning the 2nd World Dragon Boat Racing Championships in Hong Kong on Sunday.
Competing against a field of professional and Olympic rowers, the American win was all the more surprising as the team was drawn from doctors, lawyers and weekend athletes.
In the women's event, China took victory for the right to call themselves 'the best in the world' at this unique sporting event.
The United States men's Dragon Boat racing team had reason to celebrate on Sunday.
Their victory in the Grand Final of the Second World Dragon Boat Championships in Hong Kong came as a complete surprise.
Competing against a strong field of international boats, the Americans had a strong finish in lane 6 over the 500-meter course to record a huge upset victory in 2-minutes, 4-point-6-1 seconds (2:4.61).
Canada paddled into second and Australia was third.
The Grand Finals are the culmination of this unique week long event on Hong Kong's Shing Mun River that featured boats ands crews from all over the world.
The event was being held for the second time. The first was held in Yueyang, China.
Many of the crews competing are professionals, with members drawn from the ranks of Olympic teams and top rowing clubs.
The American team, made up of amateurs, had not won a race during a tough round of qualifiers, but this victory erased all the team's frustrations.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"I mean you literally start killing each other. You're jumping on each other. Things aren't going well. And you're snapping at each other and you start to say 'I can't wait to get home, I can't wait to be in a normal circumstance again', and then this all makes it worth it, you know? To call home and say 'Mum, we're world champions.'"
SUPER CAPTION: Steve Hartman, US Crew member)
In the women's event, the strong China A-team overpowered the field to take the gold medal in 2-minutes, 14-point 2-9 seconds (2:14.29).
Indonesia followed in 2:16.21 and New Zealand took the bronze with a time of 2:20.34.
However the day belonged to the Americans, their victory was the culmination of a dream that started at their home base in Philadelphia and ended by beating the world's best professionals to win a gold medal in Hong Kong.
They were already looking forward to defending their title in 1999.
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