The United States of America (Bronze)
The USA were the crew that finished in the worst possible place at the 2023 world championships – sixth with only the top five qualifying for the Olympics. They put that right with victory at the FOQR in Lucerne, maintaining their record as the only nation to have competed in the men’s eight at every Olympic Games bar the boycotted Moscow Games in 1980 (although they’ve not won a medal since Beijing). They’ve made a few changes to their line-up from last year; U23 bronze medallist Christian Tabash joined the crew, as did Nicholas Rusher from the fourth-placed eight from 2022. The third new member of the crew this season was Evan Olson, who finished fifth in the pair last year. Finally, Reilly Milne replaces James Catalano in the coxes seat. They join the returners from 2023, Henry Hollingsworth, Clark Dean, Chris Carlson, Peter Chatain and Pieter Quinton. The Americans dominated the field at the Final Olympic Qualifying Regatta and, buoyed by that result, defeated the British in the preliminary race at the second World Rowing Cup, only to have the British reverse the result when it mattered. The Americans will have been encouraged by how close they came to the British, but that enthusiasm will need to be tempered by the fact the US had peaked for the FOQR earlier in the week and the British were in the middle of a big training block. I think the Americans will be fighting for a medal, but I think the fight is likely to be with a very strong Netherlands crew to take the bronze.
Australia (Silver)
As mentioned elsewhere, Australia are the only crew to have beaten the British this Olympiad, at the Lucerne World Rowing Cup last year. The Australians have prioritised this boat on their men’s team and moved the remaining members of their Olympic champion men’s four (Turrin, Purnell & Hargreaves) into the eight. They are a very experienced outfit, as, alongside the three Olympic four champions, they also have Hicks, Dawson and O’brien who all raced in Tokyo. The Aussies took bronze at the last two world championships (which was their first world championship medal in this event since 2010) but they’ve not won an Olympic men’s eight medal since bronze in Athens 20 years ago, and they’ve never won the title. With the stacking of their eight, they have signaled their intention to do whatever they can to break that duck. They made a mixed start to their 2024 campaign, looking sluggish and untidy at the Lucerne World Rowing Cup, where they could only manage fourth. They looked far smoother and more cohesive at the final World Rowing Cup, where they comprehensively beat the Germans to take the gold.
Great Britain (Gold)
Great Britain have been the crew to beat throughout the Paris Olympiad, and so far only one crew has managed it (Australia at the Lucerne World Rowing Cup last season). The British bounced back from that surprise defeat by taking the world championship title. The British and Germans have had a semi-official rivalry ever since the start of the London Olympiad, where each crew wants to win the Olympics and all the world championships during that Olympic cycle. The Germans achieved that in London and GB in Rio. Now, with a shortened Olympic cycle, the British have a chance to do it again. They are a settled line-up with four of the crew having won bronze in the eight at the Tokyo Games. As mentioned, since finishing in bronze in Tokyo, the British have only been beaten once and they have two world championship titles and three European titles to their credit. They have been made to work for some of these victories – the Romanians pushed them hard at the Europeans last year, getting within 5/100th and then this season the Americans, fresh from winning the Final Olympic Qualifying Regatta, produced a strong final sprint to close within 2/10th. The British have always looked in control of their races though and will head into Paris as strong favourites.
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