BARCELONA ’92 OLYMPICS : Canadian Women Win Two Golds in Rowing

BANYOLES, Spain — Canada broke Eastern Europe’s stranglehold on Olympic gold in women’s rowing Saturday, winning the coxless pairs and fours with six athletes who will compete in the prestigious eights event today.

In the men’s competition, Thomas Lange, a 28-year-old medical student, won his second consecutive gold in the single sculls as Germany collected six rowing medals. Lange was one of two Germans to win gold in the seven events on Lake Banyoles. The United States won a silver and a bronze.

Since women’s rowing was included in the 1976 Olympics, every Olympic gold except one--won by U.S. rowers in 1984--had been won by Eastern European athletes.

But the Canadian women, victors in all three events at last year’s world championships, crossed the line less than a boat length ahead of the silver medalists in both races.

Kirsten Barnes, Brenda Taylor, Jessica Monroe and Kay Worthington of Canada won the women’s coxless fours. Shelagh Donohoe of Lowell, Mass., Cindy Eckert of Brookfield, Wis., Amy Fuller of Westlake and Carol Feeney of Oak Park, Ill. finished second.

Marnie McBean and Kathleen Heddle of Canada won the gold medal in coxless pairs with the U.S. team of Anna Seaton of Manhattan, Kan., and Stephanie Maxwell-Pierson of Somerville, N.J., earning the bronze. Germany won the silver.

Kerstin Koeppen and Kathrin Boron of Germany won the gold medal in women’s double sculls. Britain’s Steven Redgrave completed a personal triple with a victory in men’s coxless pairs to become only the seventh rower to win gold medals in three consecutive Olympics.

Stephen Hawkins and Peter Antonie of Australia won the gold medal in men’s double sculls.

Viorel Talapan, Iulica Ruican, Dimitrie Popescu, Nicolaie Taga and Dumitru Raducanu of Romania won the gold in men’s coxed fours.

Rowing Medalists

* MEN’S SINGLE SCULLS

GOLD: Thomas Lange (Germany)

SILVER: Vaclav Chalupa (Czechoslovakia)

BRONZE: Kajetan Broniewski (Poland)

* MEN’S COXLESS PAIRS

GOLD: Britain

SILVER: Germany

BRONZE: Slovenia

* MEN’S DOUBLE SCULLS

GOLD: Australia

SILVER: Austria

BRONZE: Netherlands

* MEN’S COXED FOURS

GOLD: Romania

SILVER: Germany

BRONZE: Poland

* WOMEN’S COXLESS PAIRS

GOLD: Canada

SILVER: Germany

BRONZE: United States

* WOMEN’S DOUBLE SCULLS

GOLD: Germany

SILVER: Romania

BRONZE: China

* WOMEN’S COXLESS FOURS

GOLD: Canada

SILVER: United States

BRONZE: Germany