Helen Glover refused to rule out one further crack at the Olympics in 2028 after narrowly falling short of a third career gold in an enthralling women’s four final against the Netherlands.
It was one of three medals on another day that confirmed Team GB’s comeback since disappointment in Tokyo three years ago. Although there was no feat to match their dramatic victory in the women’s quadruple sculls on Wednesday, bronzes in the women’s double sculls and men’s four maintained the feelgood factor on another scorching day 45 minutes east of Paris.
The spotlight had been firmly on Glover, twice a champion in the women’s pair. The 38-year-old mother of three had retired from the sport before returning for Tokyo 2020. This time around, she was tempted into a shot at glory in the four. After narrowly being beaten in a hair-raising sprint with the Netherlands, she was noncommittal regarding the prospects of competing into her fifth decade.
“Right now I just want to spend time with my family, enjoy being mum, not really thinking about rowing and taking my time,” she said. “Half the team think I’ll carry on. I don’t plan to carry on but I guess it’s been kind of ‘focus on crossing the finish line then we’ll see’.”
Glover has previously represented Great Britain in beach sprint rowing, which will become an Olympic sport in Los Angeles, and that could be an option for her curtain call.
The women’s four boat, who are European champions and were slight favourites going into the final, almost completed a carbon copy of their teammates’ astonishing comeback in the sculls. This time the Dutch, ahead from the start, made a decisive final push in a neck-and-neck sprint over the last 250 metres.
Glover, Sam Redgrave, Esme Booth and Rebecca Shorten had overhauled Romania by the 500 metre mark, taking second place in doing so, but were unable to make any more progress despite coming within 0.18 seconds of chasing the Netherlands down. New Zealand took the bronze.
“It went to plan. We did what we could,” Glover said. “You expect tight racing on Olympic finals day so we’ve got to be proud of what we put together. When it comes to such fine margins you’re racing the best in the world, so you just have to accept it sometimes.”
Glover was not the only British mother to excel. Half an hour previously, Becky Wilde and Mathilda Hodgkins Byrne had taken an impressive double sculls bronze, this time fending off the Netherlands to confirm their place on the podium. They had led early on but, ultimately, New Zealand took the title with Romania just behind. Hodgkins Byrne has a two-year-old son, Freddie, and took time away from rowing after Tokyo 2020.
“We were selected in March and given a challenge that it was probably not possible to qualify,” she said. “Secretly, to ourselves, we were determined to try and get on the podium and that’s what we have done.”
There has been intense focus on Glover’s balancing of family life and a revived sideline in elite rowing but she said, before venturing to meet her children and her husband, Steve Backshall, that such situations should become less of a talking point in future.
“Normalising it is really important. Sport is a massive reflection of society and to show you can come back to something and excel, not despite having children but because you’ve had children, is a message that there should be a space for women to come back.”
The men’s four, world and European champions, had been fancied in some quarters to add Olympic gold to their medal cabinets despite an unsettled preparation. Oliver Wilkes, David Ambler, Matt Aldridge and Freddie Davidson had trailed New Zealand narrowly in the heats and again found them impossible to hunt down.
A slightly off-key start was largely responsible: they were sixth and last in the early stages and despite a surge through the field and a characteristically strong third quarter they were forced to settle for edging out Italy and claiming bronze. An imperious US boat, which set a stupendous pace and found something extra whenever the New Zealanders sensed encouragement, crossed the line first.
Aldridge had no regrets after another high quality showdown. “We could have dreamed of getting the gold and I think we gave everything we could,” he said. “Every single crew in that final was outstanding. I feel incredibly lucky and fortunate that our face was good enough to get us where it was.”
The final word belonged to Glover, who was keen to emphasise that this event is at its best when shared joy is the focus. “They’re just beaming big smiles watching their mummy racing at the Olympics,” she said when asked how her offspring were taking the occasion in. “They’ve loved every minute.”
The question is whether there will be more to savour four years from now.
