Pakistan’s Shahzad secures two gold medals in indoor rowing competition in Portugal
During the Portugal National Indoor Rowing Championship, Mohammad Shahzad from Pakistan won two gold medals.
In the Master Category, which is for people aged 60 to 64, he won medals in the 500-meter and 2,000-meter races.
He finished the 500m race in 1 minute and 33 seconds, but it took him 7 minutes and 20 seconds to finish the 2000m race.
Shahzad is the father of Mahoor Shahzad, a badminton player, and Rabia Shahzad, a weightlifter.
Mahoor put a video of her father on Twitter and wrote, “My father, Muhammad Shahzad, won two gold medals in the 500m and 2000m races at the Portuguese National Open Indoor Rowing Championship in Viana, Portugal on January 29, 2023.”
She added that: “He competed in Masters 60-64 age category. His time for 500 metres was 1:33, and for 2000 metres it was 7:20.”
World Rowing’s official website says that indoor rowing, also called “erging” after the ergometer that is used for this sport, has been used by rowers as a way to train since the sport was first made. Today, indoor rowing has grown to become a competitive sport in its own right.
Ergometers have been used in rowing training since the 1950s in many countries. The earliest examples were huge metal contraptions with a solid iron flywheel.
Indoor rowing competitions take place all over the world. The C.R.A.S.H.-Bs has been going on the longest and is the most well-known. It takes place every year in February in Boston, USA.
In 2018, the first World Indoor Rowing Championships were held in Alexandria, USA. They were put on by Concept2.