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
Emma Twigg
Age
37 years
Olympic Record
Ninth in the W1X at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games
Fourth in the W1X at the 2012 London Olympic Games
Fourth in the W1X at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games
Gold in the W1X at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games
2024 Competitive Record
2024 World Rowing Cup 1: N/A
2024 World Rowing Cup 2: 3rd (W1X)
2024 World Rowing Cup 3: N/A
The Profile
The oldest competitor in the field, Twigg is also the most experienced and is something of a legend in the single. She has been competing on the senior international stage since 2006 and, after initially racing in the eight, made the move to this boat class in 2007, winning the U23 world championships that season and making the A-Final of the senior world championships. She has spent the rest of her career racing in the single and, during that time, has won the world title in 2014 as well as world championship silver four times and bronze twice. Paris will be her fifth Olympic Games despite the fact that after taking a second successive fourth-placed finish in Rio, she retired from international competition. However, the lure of the river was too great and in 2018 she returned to competition. She fulfilled her dream in Tokyo by becoming Olympic champion, becoming the first New Zealander to medal in the women’s single at the Olympics. In 2022, she again took silver at the world championships as well as medaling at the world Beach Sprints. In 2023, she took yet another silver medal at the world championships and this season has made one appearance, taking the bronze medal behind Florijn and Rigney at the Lucerne 2024 World Rowing Cup.
About The Author
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