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.
The Stats
Country
New Zealand
Crew
Tom Mackintosh
Age
27 years
Olympic Record
Gold in the M8+ at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Games
2024 Competitive Record
2024 World Rowing Cup 1: N/A
2024 World Rowing Cup 2: 6th (M1X)
2024 World Rowing Cup 3: 1st (M1X)
Other: N/A
The Profile
Mackintosh is another sweep turned sculler. He was part of the outstanding Kiwi men’s eight that won gold at the Tokyo Olympics. He made his senior debut whilst still an U23 in 2018, finishing 15th in the coxless four. He continued in the four in 2019, improving the result by one place. His breakthrough came in 2021 when he was selected for the eight and, after winning the Final Olympic Qualifying Regatta, they won an historic gold at the Games. Post-Tokyo, he moved into the pair with fellow gold medalist Matt Macdonald. They had reasonable success, winning the Silver Goblets and Nickalls’ Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta and making the A-Final at the 2022 world championships. In 2023, he made the decision to move to the single and had an immediate impact, winning a bronze medal in his first race at the Lucerne 2024 World Rowing Cup and then repeating the feat at the world championships. This season, he’s raced at both the second and third 2024 World Rowing Cups, making the A-Final on both occasions and winning his first ever singles gold medal in Poznan. Unlike a lot of his compatriots, he chose to study in New Zealand both as an undergraduate (at the University of Canterbury) and as a post-graduate (at Massey University). After Paris, he will be continuing his studies at Oxford where he has already been elected as President of the University Boat Club.
About The Author
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