ITA LW2x Valentina Rodini and Federica Cesarini celebrate their win on the podium.
The LW2x route to the final had been particularly fabulous to watch, the eventual finalists within 2.5 seconds of one another in the ultra-fast semi-finals. On the way to Tokyo, Rio gold medallist Ilse Paulis and her NED partner Marieke Keijser had broken the world best time in Sabaudia against indifferent competition, ripping seven seconds out of the field in a statement of intent to make up for their minor medals in recent years. This had been broken on Tokyo semi-finals day by Britons Emily Craig and Imogen Grant, only to be broken again a race later by Italy's European champions Valentina Rodini and Federica Cesarini. The line-up was completed by France, the USA, and 2017/18 world champions Romania. But the 2019 gold medallists New Zealand were missing, Jackie Kiddle unable to find a new lightweight partner after Zoe McBride unexpectedly retired in March 2021, the problem highlighting the depletion of lightweight rowers in many countries after FISA expected the category to be lost post-Tokyo.