Tufte and Borch are passing over a very tough semifinal heat

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRASIL: Norway went ahead from a very tough semifinal heat in double rowing when Olaf Tufte and Kjetil Borch rowed into a very strong second place behind sovereign Croatia.

The challenge was to pass over Croatia with the brothers Martin and Valent Sinkovic who have two World Cup victories this year, had in fact, four medal candidates.

Borch and Tufte showed that they are excited and semifinals started well with Norwegian eyes following them.

Norway was second only to the 500 and 1000 meters, but was overtaken by Britain after 1500 meters and got the New Zealand ever closer to them.

New Zealand, which has a first and second place in the World Cup this season, approached the Norwegian duo towards the end but Borch and Tufte managed to keep away and secured the final place thanks to the solid last 500 meters.

Finally, Norway also passed Britain just before the finish line and ended in second place. That means final.

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today