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
Great Britain
Crew Names
Lauren Henry
Hannah Scott
Lola Anderson
Georgina Brayshaw
Average Age
26 years
Olympic Record
Seventh in the W4x at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (Scott)
2024 Competitive Record
World Rowing Cup 1: 4th (W4x)
World Rowing Cup 2: 1st (W4x)
World Rowing Cup 3: N/A
European Championships: 1st (W4x)
The Profile
Great Britain are the reigning world champions, taking the title in 2023, a decade after GB last won that crown. So far though, they’ve missed out on the ultimate Olympic crown (only three countries have ever won Olympic gold since the boat went coxless in 1988 – Germany, Ukraine and China). GB will start as favourites in Paris and will hope to make it four countries to have won the Olympic title. Hannah Scott is the only remaining member of the crew that won the B-Final in Tokyo; she spent the 2022 season racing in the single, finishing in an excellent fifth at the world championships. Anderson and Brayshaw were part of the quad in 2022, winning the European championships and taking silver at the world championships. The step change in performance came with the addition of Lauren Henry to the crew in 2023. She had finished fourth in the BW1X at the U23 world championships in 2022, but with the move to the senior team, the blend of athletes just gave the British the small improvement they needed to take them from the minor medals to consistent gold. They had a minor blip at the opening World Rowing Cup, only managing fourth, but at both the Europeans and the second World Rowing Cup they have looked to be the dominant crew in the event.
About The Author
