Larissa Viktorovna Merk

Larissa Viktorovna Merk ( Russian Лариса Викторовна Мерк ; born March 16, 1971 in Novosibirsk ) is a former Russian rower who took part in the Olympic Games four times.

Career

Merk took fourth place in a double scull at the (unofficial) U23 World Championships in 1993 . Her first final ranking at world championships in the adult class came in 1995 when she finished sixth with the Russian double foursome . At the 1996 Olympic Games , the quadruple won the B final, finishing seventh. In the following year, the quadruple finished fourth at the 1997 World Championships . At the 1998 World Championships in Cologne, she won the silver medal behind the German double scull together with Oksana Dorodnowa , Julija Lewina and Inna Moissejewa . In 1999, Olga Samulenkowa replaced Inna Moissejewa, and in the new line-up the Russian double foursome received the bronze medal at the 1999 World Championships behind the boats from Germany and the Ukraine. At the 2000 Olympic Games , the double foursome competed with Oksana Dorodnowa, Irina Fedotowa , Julija Levina and Larissa Merk and won bronze behind the Germans and the British.

In 2001 Merk switched to the double scull and together with Julija Alexandrowa took fourth place at the 2001 World Championships . In 2002 Irina Fedotowa and Larissa Merk won the silver medal behind the New Zealand sisters Georgina and Caroline Evers-Swindell . The New Zealanders also won the 2003 World Championships , with Merk and Fedotowa taking the bronze medal behind the German double scull. At the 2004 Olympic Games , Merk rowed again in double fours and took fourth place in the Olympic final. In 2005 in Gifu , the Russian double quad won the bronze medal with Samulenkowa, Dorodnowa, Merk and Fedotowa. After finishing seventh in the quad scull at the 2008 Olympics , Merk won her last international medal at the 2008 European Championships when she received the silver medal in the quad scull.

Web links

• Larissa Wiktorovna Merk in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Larissa Wiktorowna Merk at Worldrowing.com ( FISA database )