German rowers win gold

The German men's eight rowing team captured gold on Wednesday in a close race that saw the country win its first gold medal in the event since reunification in 1990 with a time of 5 minutes and 48.75 seconds.

The Germans entered the race at Dorney Lake as favorites, having won the last three World Championships. The strong showing made up for their disappointing 8th place finish four years ago.

Canada, who won gold in 2008, came in second. Great Britain, who were level with Germany for most of the race, finished third after fading in the final 250 meters.

Earlier in the day the German women's team won silver in the rowing quadruple sculls event. They finished just seconds behind the Ukrainian team that won gold. The United States picked up bronze.

Gymnastics silver

In gymnastics, Germany's Marcel Nguyen nabbed a silver medal in the men's individual all-around gymnastics final, ending a 76-year wait for a German medal in that event. Japan's Kohei Uchimura won the gold medal in that event.

In tennis, seventh-seeded Angelique Kerber raised German hopes for a medal, when she beat Venus Williams to make it to the quarterfinals, where she will face world number one Victoria Azarenka of Belarus.

Thiele wins judo silver

Germany also won a medal in the 70-kilogram division of women's judo. The 23-year-old Kerstin Thiele, a German police officer, took home the silver after losing her match against France's Lucie Decosse.

Thiele, however, appeared quite happy with the result, saying that winning a silver medal "is just crazy."

slk, dr, ng/pfd (AP, dpa)