Tufte wins 2nd straight gold in single sculls

BEIXIAOYING TOWN, China (AP) Olaf Tufte of Norway has won the Olympic gold medal in men's single sculls, successfully defending his first-place finish four years ago in Athens.

Tufte trailed at the 1,500-meter mark Saturday, only to finish strong down the stretch and win in 6 minutes, 59.83 seconds.

Ondrej Synek of the Czech Republic won silver in 7:00.63. New Zealand's Mahe Drysdale was the bronze medalist in 7:01.56.

Drysdale complained of illness earlier this week and was carried off the water on a stretcher. He is the defending world champion, but he barely squeaked into the final after a lackluster row in the semis.

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