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.
Netherlands
With silver medals at both of the world championships this cycle, the Dutch eight will be unhappy to be on this list. While the British were unbeatable in finals, it was the men in orange who have been pushing them closest. However, this season they have begun to look a little less impressive. Losses to the Americans at the Lucerne World Rowing Cup and falling to the Australians in Poznan made the crew look far less impressive than what we have seen in recent years. While training cycles likely did not align between these crews, this is the company they will need to keep if they are wanting to bring home medals in this event.
Germany
Over the last Olympiad, the Deutschland Achter has retreated into a shadow of its former self. Following the Tokyo cycle where they won all three world championships before a silver medal in the COVID-shadowed Olympics, they missed the A-Final in 2022 and scraped to Olympic qualification 12 months later. This season, there is rumblings of a return. A silver medal at the European championships opened their season with promise but this momentum was quickly arrested following a last-placed result in Lucerne. The crew has remained mostly unchanged, with the only notable addition mid-season is first-year senior Frederik Breuer moving across from the four following a painful third place at the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta. The stereotypical efficiency of the German Federation has been often questioned, so how they can improve on the showing in Lucerne will be key if they want to do the hallowed name proud.
Romania
Despite its smaller size and weaker economy than most major rowing nations, Romania consistently punches above its weight. At last year’s world championships, they qualified more seats than any other nation, largely through doubling up athletes across events as their eight was made up of their four and pair. For the Olympics, the governing body has put their focus in this eight as all nine athletes will race only in the blue riband event next week at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium. Following their fourth-placed world championships finish 11 months ago, most of this crew has only raced at one event: the European championships. While there, they again typically raced across multiple boat classes and finished third, just over a length behind the British crew on a training peak. With a full training peak and only one event to focus on, who knows what they can achieve as they eye a first medal in the event since 1992.
Italy
For only the second time since Beijing, Italy will be represented at the Olympics in the men’s eight. A proud rowing nation, they have tended to focus their efforts in smaller boats but after rowing through the Canadians at the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta, they booked their spot on the start line for Paris. After finishing seventh at the world championships last year, the crew has gone through some changes. University of California standout Gennaro Di Mauro raced the single earlier in the season but is back in the bigger boat whilst Frigerio and Verita have also been named in the crew for this year despite missing the cut 11 months ago. This crew is probably the weakest on the entry, but even finishing second-to-last in the repechage and making it to their first A-Final in this event since the 2000 games would be an achievement.
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