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
Australia
Crew Names
Jessica Morrison (B)
Annabelle McIntyre (S)
Average Age
30 years
Olympic Record
First in the W4- at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Games (McIntyre)
Seventh in the W2- at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Games (Morrison)
Seventh in the W8+ at the 2016 Rio Olympics Games (Morrison)
2024 Competitive Record
World Rowing Cup 1: N/A
World Rowing Cup 2: 2nd (W2-)
World Rowing Cup 3: 1st (W2-) | 2nd (W8+)
European Championships: N/A
The Profile
Australia’s crew is Jessica Morrison and Annabelle McIntyre. They were the stern pair of the gold medal women’s coxless four from the Tokyo Olympics and doubled-up to take seventh in the pair. They also have world championship silver from 2019 and again in 2023. This season, they opened their campaign in Lucerne, securing another silver medal behind the Dutch. At the final 2024 World Rowing Cup, they took the gold in the absence of the Dutch. Paris will be Morrison’s third Olympics; she was a member of the eight that finished seventh out of seven in Rio. She and McIntyre raced in the bronze medal-winning eight in 2018 and then switched to the pair (as well as doubling-up in the eight) in 2019, winning silver in both boat classes at the world championships.
About The Author
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