By Philip O’Connor
PARIS (Reuters) -New Zealand, Romania, Netherlands and the United States all won gold as the double sculls and fours Olympic competitions reached their climax at the Paris Games on a thrilling morning of racing at the Vaires-sur-Marnes Nautical Stadium on Thursday.
Kicking off a period of just over an hour in which a barrage of medals were awarded, the Kiwi crew of Brooke Francis and Lucy Spoors held their nerve in a tight finish to edge Romania in a time of 6:50.45, hanging on to grab gold by 0.24 seconds.
The pair have both become mothers since the last Olympics, and they paid tribute to their children, who were watching from the stands, following their victory.
“They’re definitely our superpower in the background. Since Tokyo (2020) we’ve both believed we could win this race. It’s been a slow build, but to be here and finally do it in front of them, I can’t believe it,” Spoors said.
Romania went out fast in the men’s double sculls final but were quickly reined in by a strong Dutch crew who took the lead around the midway point of the race and looked strong before being pulled back.
Despite looking spent, the Romanians came roaring back to take the lead again, leaving the Dutch in a furious battle for second place with the resurgent Ireland crew, who ultimately had to be content with bronze despite their strong finish.
“I don’t care who is the world champion, who is the silver medallist,” Romania’s Marian Enache said following the victory. “I have respect for all the crews that compete against me. I told them before: if they want to beat me, they must die.”
After a fourth place and one silver medal in the opening two races, the Dutch finally made the top step of the podium in the women’s four final after a thrilling showdown with the British crew that saw them finish 0.18 seconds in front to grab gold.
“I just went, ‘keep rowing, keep rowing’, then I heard Hermijnte (Drenth) behind me – ‘guys, we won.’,” Tinka Offereins of the Dutch team said. “I looked too late at the screen, and we were first. It was not normal. I can’t believe it.”
The day’s racing ended with the men’s four final which the United States dominated almost from the start, brushing off a late challenge from New Zealand to finish in 5:49.03 for gold.
(Reporting by Philip O’Connor; Editing by Tom Hogue, Toby Davis and Ken Ferris)
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