Kathrin Boron
Ekaterina Karsten
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Ekaterina Karsten leads 3 of 4 categories. Our all-time ranking places Kathrin Boron at #5 and Ekaterina Karsten at #9.
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The case for Kathrin Boron
Four Olympic golds in German sculling, across the double and the quad, from Barcelona 1992 to Athens 2004. Where Redgrave and Pinsent owned sweep boats, Boron owned the two-oar side of the regatta through the same years. The career sits inside the German programme that followed unification, and it is the women's sculling counterpart to Pinsent's four-for-four. Count golds and Games and she belongs in this group. Count only British pairs and she disappears, which is a bad way to rank the sport.
The case for Ekaterina Karsten
Two Olympic golds in the women's single, at Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000, then silver in 2004 and 2008 and bronze in 2012. Five Olympic medals in the event that offers nowhere to hide. The golds are fewer than Boron's or Lipă's. The years on the podium are the argument: five Games, five medals, in the single. A list that only promotes undefeated crews underrates a sculler who stayed in the medals while the rest of the field changed.