Men’s Pair – Final A
Fresh from a semi-final that will have disappointed the European champions, Great Britain learned their lesson to catch the field napping and establish an early lead. The Romanians stuck with them admirably through the first 1000m before the Croatian Sinkovic pairing surged in the final 500m to put significant pressure on the British with the Swiss in tow. A crab approaching the line from the British scuppered what looked like a gold, allowing the Croatians to come through and take their third successive Olympic victory. GB took silver and the Swiss world champions secured bronze.
Women’s Pair – Final A
It is rare to see such dominance on display in an Olympic final but the Dutch continued their strong regatta by opening out to over a length in the first 500m. The Australians – who are both Olympic gold medalists from Tokyo – seemed to have no answers for this remarkable orange-clad duo, whose exhibition of pairs rowing was amongst the finest in Olympic history. The dogfight for silver and bronze contained Romania, the USA and Lithuania, the former of whom outgunned Australia on the line to claim second.
Lightweight Men’s Double Scull – Final A
This was a tale of Irish resilience, Italian fury and Greek guts as three rivals for the ages clashed in the great Olympic arena. Ireland – Olympic and world champions – took a while to get going but set a pace through the middle 1000m that no-one else could live with. The Italians – whose battle with the Swiss did not materialise on Parisian waters – sprinted past the Greeks in the closing stages to secure a brave silver.Â
Lightweight Women’s Double Scull – Final A
The unbeaten British duo arrived into this final with the weight of personal and national expectation heavy on their shoulders, as one of the hottest favourites for gold. Their precise and powerful start indicated intention and confidence, moving to a length at 1000m to go and near-on clear water by 500m to go. In superb style, the ghosts of Tokyo – where they missed a medal by 0.01 seconds – were firmly laid to rest, as the Romanians took silver and the fast-finishing Greeks took bronze.
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