The cherry on the cake for French Para rowers Alberdi and Cadot

There’s always emotion in winning a world medal, but for France’s Laurent Cadot and Elur Alberdi the feelings hit particularly hard.

Not only did the duo claim PR3 mixed double sculls bronze after a tight race with Great Britain on 8 September 2023, they also secured qualification to Paris 2024 for the event’s Paralympic Games debut.

Cadot and Alberdi raced their first international regatta together in Racice last year, beating Brazil to gold by just over two seconds. The 2023 World Rowing Championships, which took place between 3 and 10 September, was just their second event together. 

Perfect chemistry

Competing together in Belgrade held a special meaning for the two rowers, since Alberdi was diagnosed with stage 3 cancer in February and had to focus on her treatment. 

“I finished my chemo in June, and it was hard, because I hadn’t been able to row much, and if we manage to qualify the boat for the Paralympics it will be more than I thought I’d be able to,” she said.

While Cadot was crowned European champion together with Guylaine Marchand when Alberdi was undergoing treatment, he said racing with Alberdi in Belgrade was important.

“With Elur, we trust each other, there is real chemistry in the boat. She had a very difficult year, physically and mentally, and that’s why this medal has a different taste this year,” Cadot said.

In Belgrade, Australia’s Nikki Ayers and Jed Altschwager took gold with a time of 8:07.07 in the PR3 mixed double sculls, followed by Gemma Wollenschlaeger and Todd Vogt of the USA who crossed in 8:15.22. Alberdi and Cadot finished in 8:27.09.

The cherry on top

Both Cadot and Alberdi were rowers before taking up Para rowing. Cadot represented France at two Olympic Games (2004 and 2008) and other major international events, before he picked up an infection during back surgery in 2012, and then developed a degenerative neurological disorder. He returned to the sport in the French PR3 men’s pair at World Rowing Cup I last year.

Alberdi rowed as a young woman before giving up to focus on career and family. She picked up rowing again after sustaining a forearm injury affecting movement in her wrist.

Alberdi describes rowing as “the cherry on top of the cake of my life”.

“If I wasn’t doing sport, I don’t think I’d ever have noticed I was ill. It’s given me everything. For me it’s huge,” Alberdi said.

“And then rowing with Laurent last year was more than I could have imagined: me, a mum with three kids, living that. I’m so happy to be at this level with the year that I’ve had, and to be here with Laurent, because it’s great to row with him, it gives me huge pleasure.”

Tickets to Paris

The 2023 World Rowing Championships served as a qualification opportunity for next year’s Paralympic Games. Paris 2024, which will take place between 28 August and 8 September, will feature five Para rowing events – PR1 men’s and women’s singles, PR2 mixed double sculls, PR3 mixed coxed four, PR3 mixed double sculls. 

In the PR1 women’s single sculls, Norway’s reigning Paralympic champion Birgit Skarstein finished ahead of France’s Nathalie Benoit and Ukraine’s Anna Sheremet.

“This is not only the end of this season, but it’s the start of the journey to Paris, with four boats and seven athletes,” a tearful Skarstein said. 

“I’ve been to two summer Paralympics, and I know how much dedication and hard work and emotions that’s in it. I’m a little scared because I know it’s going to take it all from all of us, but I’m just so deeply in love with this journey.”

Roman Polianskyi of Ukraine continued to dominate in the PR1 men’s single sculls, two years after winning the event at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. In the PR3 mixed coxed four event, Great Britian’s team of Francesca Allen, Morgan Fice-Noyes, Giedre Rakauskaite, Edward Fuller and Erin Kennedy shot to the finish line first.

In the PR2 mixed double sculls, Great Britain’s Lauren Rowles and Gregg Stevenson came from behind to top the podium, after China’s Tokyo 2020 bronze medallists Liu Shuang and Jiang Jijian took an early lead. 

The victory was a great birthday present for Stevenson, who turned 39 on Saturday, in his first world championship final. Poland’s Jolanta Majka and Michal Gadowski got the better of a race for bronze with the Netherlands despite a slow start.

“I knew as they started pushing back on us we had to go. Today was our day and today was our gold medal. We’ve trained all season for that and we both deserve that more than anything,” Rowles said.