Spain (Bronze)
Jaime Canalejo Pazos and Javier Garcia Ordonez have been two of Spain’s most successful oarsmen for over a decade. They raced together in the coxless four throughout the Rio Olympiad but just missed out on qualification. They formed their pairs partnership at the start of the 2018 season, reaching the A-Final at the world championships. Their breakthrough year came in 2019, winning a bronze medal at the European championships and the opening World Rowing Cup before placing fifth at the world championships. 2021 saw them take another bronze at the opening World Rowing Cup before making the A-Final at the Tokyo Olympics. 2022 saw them regularly making the A-Final, taking silver at the opening World Rowing Cup and bronze at the Europeans before producing Spain’s best men’s sweep world championship result in 33 years with a silver medal at the world championships. They slipped back a little in 2023, winning the B-Final in Belgrade but showed good speed at the Lucerne 2024 World Rowing Cup by winning silver behind the British.
Switzerland (Silver)
The Swiss are the reigning world champions and have been going head to head with Wynne-Griffith and George for the last couple of seasons, and not just in the men’s pair. Roeoesli was a member of the Oxford Boat Race crew when Wynne-Griffith and George raced for Cambridge. Gulich, like Wynne-Griffith, is also a former Yale Bulldog. Gulich made his senior debut in 2021 as part of the coxless four that ended the season with ninth at the Tokyo Olympics. He continued in the four for the 2022 season, placing fifth at both the Europeans and the world championships (Switzerland’s best result in the men’s coxless four at the world championships since 1982). Röösli made his debut in 2013 and was a member of the outstanding Swiss BM4X that won the U23 world championships that year and defended the title in 2014. This quad went on to race at the Rio Olympics, winning the B-Final. Post Rio, he formed a doubles partnership with Barnabe Delarze, winning world championship silver in 2018 (another best-ever performance for Switzerland). They went on to race in Tokyo, reaching the A-Final. Roeoesli and Gulich formed their pairs partnership in 2023 and produced an outstanding season, winning both the European and world title. This season, they lost to the British at the opening 2024 World Rowing Cup and were beaten by them again at the Europeans and the second 2024 World Rowing Cup. They closed the 2024 World Rowing Cup season with a strong victory ahead of Croatia and New Zealand.
Great Britain (Gold)
Wynne-Griffith and George have been rowing together since their school days at Radley College and raced together in the GBR eight that won bronze at the 2012 junior worlds. They went their separate ways for their undergraduate studies in the USA (George to Princeton and Wynne-Griffith to Yale) but returned as post-grads to race for Cambridge in The Boat Race. They were also both members of the British eight from 2018, winning bronze at the world championships that year and again in 2019. They rounded off their time in the eight with Olympic bronze in Tokyo. Post Olympics, they became the GB men’s pair, winning two 2022 World Rowing Cups and then silver at the Europeans and bronze at the World Championships. They repeated that feat in 2023, upgrading their world championship bronze to a silver. However, it’s in 2024 that they’ve really stepped on and have dominated the field, winning at the first and second 2024 World Rowing Cups, and taking their first championship title winning the Europeans. They will head into Paris as favourites to win GB’s first men’s pair Olympic title since the legendary Redgrave and Pinsent combo in Atlanta 1996.
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