First gold for French hosts at World Rowing Championships as Grainger and Thornley book Rio 2016 slot

France's lightweight men's quarduple scullers celebrate the first home gold of the World Rowing Championships on Lake Aiguebelette ©Getty Images

Lightweight finals day at the World Rowing Championships on Lake Aiguebelette in France saw the hosts earn a first gold following a dramatic finish to the lightweight men’s quadruple sculls.

Earlier in the programme, Britain’s 39-year-old London 2012 champion Katherine Grainger and her new partner Vicky Thornley qualified the women’s double sculls boat for Rio 2016 as they reached Sunday’s final by taking the third qualifying place behind Lithuania’s 2013 world champions Donata Vistartaite and Milda Valciukaite and the winners, New Zealand’s defending champions Eve McFarlane and Zoe Stevenson.

The French quartet of Maxime Demontfaucon, Damien Piqueras, Pierre Houin and Morgan Maunoir lost their early lead to Germany, but regained it in the final three strokes.

“It was a crazy race,” said Demountfaucon. “I make the calls and I asked for more - to hear the crowd at home really helped us to win.”

New Zealand’s Zoe McBride, winner of the lightweight women’s single sculls title in this year’s World Cup series and holder of the World Best Time, took gold ahead of Britain’s Imogen Walsh, with Kathleen Bertko of the United States in third place.

Zoe McBride of New Zealand earned gold in the lightweight women's single sculls, in which she holds the World Best Time ©Getty Images

Three seconds covered the first four boats as they sprinted to the finish in the men’s lightweight single sculls final, and it was New Zealand’s Adam Ling who got there first ahead of Rajko Havrat of Slovenia and bronze medallist Milos Stanojevic of Serbia.

Italy’s world champion Marcello Miani completed a disappointing regatta by finishing last in the B final.

In the lightweight women’s quadruple sculls, Germany led from start to finish, holding off the late challenge of Britain’s crew, who took silver ahead of the Dutch, who were defending champions but had a new crew on board.

Italy took the early lead in the lightweight men’s eight final, but faded to fourth as Germany, France and the United States came through, finishing in that order for the medals.

“It is my last race, my last Championships,” said France’s Fabrice Moreau.

“The young guys were all here for me, and to win a silver with them is amazing.”

The men’s coxed pair title went to Britain’s Matthew Tarrant and Nathaniel Reilly-O’Donnell, with coxswain Henry Fieldman, while the women’s four gold was claimed by the United States ahead of Britain and China.

Britain’s Joel Cassels and Sam Scrimgeour denied the hosts a second gold in the lightweight men’s pair, with Germany taking bronze.

Britain's Joel Cassels (left) and Sam Scrimgeour celebrate winning the world title in the lightweight men's pair on Lake Aiguebelettte ©Getty Images

“It has taken me three years in the pair to win the World title – it’s amazing,” said Scrimgeour.

In the second semi-final of the women’s double sculls, European champions Poland were narrowly beaten by the Greek pair of Aikaterini Nikolaidou and Sofia Asoumanaki, the indoor rowing world junior record holder and world junior silver medallist.

The racing will be tough on Sunday, as Grainger knows all too well.

“We knew both semis would be a fight to the death to get into the top three,” she said.

“We talked with our coach Paul Thompson last night and we knew we would need to bring out our best race.

“It brought the best out of both of us and it was great that we could raise our game in that kind of Championships race."

Germany’s new pairing of Marcel Hacker and Stephan Krueger, winners of their semi-final in the men’s double sculls, look the only serious challengers to Croatia’s defending champions Valent and Martin Sinkovic, who won their semi virtually untroubled.

Denmark and Switzerland were the winners in the lightweight men’s four semi-finals.

In the men’s single sculls Lithuania’s Mindaugas Griskonis beat world champion Ondrej Synek in his semi-final, while the other saw the qualification of two Olympic champions – winner Mahe Drysdale of New Zealand, the London 2012 gold medallist, and Norway’s Olaf Tufte, the 39-year-old Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 champion, who was third behind Croatia’s European champion Damir Martin.

China’s Jungli Duan and Australia’s 2013 world champion Kim Crow are on collision course after winning their women’s single sculls semi-finals.