GOLDEN GIRLS! (and boys)
UNRIVALLED OLYMPIC COVERAGE
BRITAIN ruled the waves again yesterday as Team GB’s rowers won their third gold of the Games in Rio.
Team GB triumphed in the men’s eight – the first time they have held the title since the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
The British team, who are the reigning world champions, finished well clear of Germany, who took silver, and the Netherlands, who claimed bronze.
The victory came just minutes after the women’s eight won a silver medal.
Coxed by Phelan Hill, the men’s team of Scott Durant, Tom Ransley, Andrew Triggs Hodge, Matt Gotrel, Peter Reed, Paul Bennett, Matt Langridge and Will Satch led from start to finish.
Triggs Hodge, who already has two Olympic golds from men’s four titles in London 2012 and Beijing 2008, had feared last year that his rowing days were over after a debilitating bout of glandular fever, which can cause extreme tiredness.
But the 37-year-old battled back to add another gold medal yester- day at Lagoa Rodrigo de Frei- tas. Speaking after their win,, he said: ‘That was the angri- est, fiercest, [most] ruthless race. We put everything in that – it was very aggressive, it was a fist fight. It was really good.’
Reed added: ‘These are the most amazing bunch of guys. That was a big, big race. I’m just speechless.’
And British rowing coach Jurgen Grobler said: ‘It is wonderful for British rowing. I feel so good for the guys. There’s a good mix of guys between the younger and older ones.
‘We tried to develop winning athletes and so far the time has been there. We knew we had a good bunch of guys.
‘There are no secrets. Hard, hard work, having vision of what is coming up and running a good training programme and they’re still having fun.’
The men’s eight victory followed the women’s team taking their first ever medal in the event. At the halfway mark, the British boat, coxed by Zoe de Toledo, had been in last place.
But the crew of Katie Greves, Melanie Wilson, Frances Houghton, Polly Swann, Jessica Eddie, Olivia Carnegie-Brown, Karen Bennett and Zoe Lee stormed back to land a silver medal. In a dramatic finish, they managed to hold off the fastfinishing Romanian team by just 12 hundredths of a second.
The Americans, who had been heavy favourites before the race, retained the gold they won in both 2008 and 2012.