Second helpings for hero rowers
O’donovans plan big dinner after cutting back before contest
ROWING heroes the O’donovan brothers celebrated winning silver at the European Championships yesterday by having a big dinner. The siblings shot to fame last year after their hilarious TV interviews at the Rio Olympics. And yesterday they came from behind and finished second in the final of the lightweight men’s sculls in Racice, near Prague, in the Czech Republic. But Gary and Paul revealed they were going to celebrate their latest success with a big meal. Gary told RTE Sport: “First things first, we’re gonna get some food. “We haven’t had a full plate of dinner in over a week. We were just trying to make weight.” The duo failed to defend 2016’s gold medal in the same competition after coming home with a time of 6.20.06. They lost out to the French team but pipping the Italians and Polish sides to second place by three tenths of a second. It capped a remarkable day for Ireland in which their clubmates Denise Walsh, Mark O’donovan and Shane O’driscoll also came away with silver and gold medals. Gary, from Skibbereen, Co Cork, said he and his brother were now “sore and tired” but it was “a good race”. He added: “The French are good. We saw Shane and Mark win and that was incredible, we won last year and we know what that feels like for them so it’s amazing. And straight away we watched Denise race the silver and it was incredible. “I don’t think anyone probably expected her to do that well. She was unbelievable. “We were on a training camp last week in Italy and the junior women Aoife [Casey] from Skibbereen and Margaret [Cremen] from Lee got a silver ONE FOR THE TEAM Gary and Paul O’donovan in Czech Republic yesterday medal at the Junior Europeans. And that lifted the spirits no end, you know. “We were buzzing around the training camp like children, running up and down the corridor, jumping for joy. “The team is so good. To have four European medals in the last two weeks going to Skibbereen is just something else. “You don’t get that too often I don’t think in Ireland.” Shane O’driscoll and Mark O’donovan claimed gold in the lightweight men’s pair. Mark said: “Dominic Casey [their trainer] wanted to make us hungry for the rowing, he kept us away from the sport for a day there, or two. “He only made us train once a week so we’d be hungry today and by God we’d a hunger.” Meanwhile, Denis Walsh was quick to mention her pair of lucky green socks.she said: “Yeah, I bought a fivepack in Penneys on St Patrick’s Day and I wore one [pair] in Belgrade and one here today.”