How do you define greatness? A mind-bending feat that surpasses expectation and rationality? A moment of authentic surprise that inverts the weight of pressing odds? Or perhaps an incision in the linear unfurling of your heart?
In sport, we are quick to anoint greatness upon each other. A performance that impresses us is often bestowed the virtue of greatness before it can even truly be understood. It is easy to attach brilliance onto bravery and boldness but sometimes the two should not be conflated. True greatness should combine mastery, magnanimity and more than a hint of magic.
The Olympic Games is our ultimate magic show. A procession of truly elite talent, operating at the pinnacle of their sport and thrust forward into a limelight fostered by four years of relative translucency. These two weeks are stitched into the very fabric of competition, dating back to the lore of Ancient Greece, and have transcended the politics of modern society to become the ultimate marker in sporting excellence. To win Olympic Gold gives you immortality of a rare and timeless specification – your story will be perpetuated forevermore, carried forward by the whispers of generations to come, who too aim to climb those sacred steps and join this club of champions. Emerging over the horizon, this time in the blue and red hue of palatial Paris, we are ready for the very fastest in rowing to be crowned.
Step forward, my friends – The Olympic Games have come.
The Stats
Country
United States of America
Crew Names
Nicholas Mead
Justin Best
Michael Grady
Liam Corrigan
Average Age
28 years
Olympic Record
Fourth in the M8+ at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (Mead, Corrigan, Best)
Fifth in the M4- at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (Grady)
2024 Competitive Record
World Rowing Cup 1: N/A
World Rowing Cup 2: 1st
World Rowing Cup 3: N/A
European Championships: N/A
The Profile
The USA last won the Olympic men’s coxless four title way back in Rome in 1960 and a win in Lucerne will have given them a huge confidence boost heading into Paris, but it could well be a case of “too much too soon”. The crew is very experienced – all four raced at the Tokyo Olympics, with Mead, Corrigan and Best finishing fourth in the eight and Grady fifth in the four. They’re a well-matched crew and have been racing together in various combinations since their junior days (Corrigan and Grady were in the JM8 back in 2014). The crew came together as a unit for the 2023 season, taking bronze at the Lucerne World Rowing Cup and then finishing as runners-up to the British at the world championships. As mentioned above, they handed the British (and Kiwis) a defeat in Lucerne (which was the first time the USA had beaten the GB four since 2015). They will head into Paris full of confidence, but I think both the British and the Kiwis will have the edge on the Americans.
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