Image Credit: World Rowing
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.
Spain – Aleix Garcia I Pujolar and Rodrigo Conde Romero
Spain qualified for the games comfortably after placing fifth in the A-Final at last year’s world championships. This year, Spain seemed to have taken their training to a whole new dimension, emphasised by the fact they won silver medal at the European championships and a bronze medal at World Rowing Cup II. That’s all we’ve seen from the Spanish this season but I think they can certainly be considered dark horses for a medal based on those performances. Both of these athletes experienced heartbreak and agony after racing to a fourth-placed finish at the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta in 2021 but now they have a shot at redemption and an outside hope for an Olympic medal.
New Zealand – Robert Manson and Jordan Parry
We’ve seen New Zealand in action twice this season. The first saw them place fourth behind the Netherlands, Italy and Spain in Lucerne before picking up a bronze medal at World Rowing Cup III, notably only beating Great Britain’s development boat by 1.5s. If anyone knows how to win when it matters most though and put together a masterclass in sculling, it’s Robbie Manson. The Kiwi still holds the World Best Time in the single scull which was set back in 2017. Manson last raced an Olympics back in Rio de Janeiro where he was 11th overall with Christopher Harris. This time round he’s partnered with Jordan Parry, a veteran of the Tokyo Olympics, where he was 13th overall in the men’s single.
France – Hugo Boucheron – Matthieu Androdias
It feels odd writing about the Olympic champions in this preview rather than seeing their names crop up in one of the medal previews. However, it’s been a rocky rollercoaster for Hugo Boucheron and Matthieu Androdias. Back in 2022, they beat the Spanish double to win the world championships but fast forward 12 months and with a different partner, Boucheron could only manage a tenth-placed finish. 2024 has been slightly more forgiving. This dynamic duo are back together and up to fifth place at World Rowing Cup II. However, the rollercoaster took another turn in Poznan where the French dropped below the British development crew and picked up another fifth place, not the ideal preparation to have heading to a home Olympics to defend your title.
Norway – Martin Helseth and Kjetil Borch
Where to start with Kjetil Borch? At aged 34, he’s heading to his fourth Olympic Games after winning a bronze in the men’s double in Rio and a silver in the single scull in Tokyo. He’s also a two-time world champion back in 2013 and 2018, the former being in this boat class. Borch also raced the single this season, culminating in a fifth-placed finish at FOQR. Despite falling two second short of making it in the single, the Norwegian authorities have moved him into the double sculls for Paris. It’s a bold strategy, bringing together a crew that haven’t raced together this year. In fact, Martin Lelseth has raced three times in three different boat classes but he did reach the A-Final of the double back in Lucerne where he placed sixth, some seven seconds behind France with Ole Amund Storlien.
Croatia – Patrik Loncaric and Anton Loncaric
Friends of The End of The Island Podcast, the Loncaric brothers have picked up the gauntlet in place of the Sinkovic brothers. These men were in the pair at last year’s world championships but following Martin and Valent’s decision to switch from the double, Patrik and Anton have returned to two oars each. While many crews opted to race in Lucerne, the Loncarics instead raced just about everything else. In Varese, they were eighth, at the Euros, 13th and come World Rowing Cup III, they were 11th. They’ve a steep hill to climb if they have any shot at an A-Final.
United States of America – Sorin Koszyk and Benjamin Davison
After a frustrating world championships, the main objective for the United States was to get this boat a berth in Paris. Sorin Koszyk and Benjamin Davison have ticked that box and are finishing off preparation for the Olympics. The Americans won their heat, semi and the final over at ‘the regatta of death’ but the question still remains as to whether or not they can produce another peak, a bigger peak when the circus heads to Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium. This American crew did show flashes of brilliance last season. They were second at World Rowing Cup II last year, but the wheels seemed to come off their proverbial freight train at the world championships, where they could only manage a win in the C-Final. For Koszk, this is his first time at the Olympics after falling short in the men’s quad three years ago. Davison, on the other hand, is in search of redemption after placing fourth in the eight in Tokyo.
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