Estonia wins main event at Grand Moscow Regatta

The International Grand Moscow Regatta was held in Russia's capital over the weekend. One of the oldest and most famous sporting events to take place in the city saw ten rowing nations competing in eleven disciplines.

It was the 48th time the International Grand Moscow Regatta has been held at the Krylatskoe watercourse.

With all the qualification heats being held the day before, on Sunday it was the finals’ turn.

The men's single sculls were the first to do battle on the 2000-meters course.

Azerbaijan's Javid Efendiev snatched the first victory of the day, edging out Artur Pavlov from Russia.

They were followed by women's double-skulls, where the win went to Yana Chernova and Anna Jazykova, representing the Lipetskaya Region of Russia.

Finally came probably the most spectacular rowing event – the men's eight…

Three crews – from Estonia, Moscow and the Moscow Region – were going head-to-head nearly right up to the finish line.

Moscow were the first to be left behind, while the other Russian crew, Kolomna, gave their all to keep on level terms with Estonians, but failed.

“The second-placed crew’s pretty good. So it was tough for us. It was the first international regatta this year for us. So it was a hard race,” Arthur Mayer from the Estonian team said.

The Olympics may be some way off, but this regatta is an important part of the preparations for London 2012.