Olaf Tufte of Norway stands on the podium during the award ceremony for the men's single sculls at the Athens Olympic Games in Greece, Aug. 21, 2004. He won the gold medal with a time of 6:49.30.

Olaf Tufte of Norway,28, won the men's single sculls gold medal Saturday.

Finishing in six minutes and 49.30 seconds, the 2003 world champion and silver medalist in Sydney's double sculls raced first to claim the title.

39-year-old Jueri Jaanson of Estonia, ranked sixth in Sydney and number one in 2004 Poznan world cup, had the silver in 6:51.42.

Bulgarian Ivo Yanakiev, 29, fifth finisher in Sydney, bagged the bronze in 6:52.80.