Emily Craig and Imogen Grant have now experienced both the agony and ecstasy of Olympic rowing.
At the Tokyo Games, they were edged out of a medal by just a hundredth of a second and pinned a picture of their photo finish as a motivating reminder between then and Paris.
They have been virtually invincible since and, in the last ever lightweight double sculls race at the Olympics before it is removed from the rowing schedule, they lived up to their billing as arguably the world’s best crew across all the disciplines.
They were the sport’s global crew of the year in 2023 and had arrived in Paris unbeaten in 11 regattas. As a pair, they have become incredibly in tune, to the extent they turned up at last year’s World Championships reading the exact same book.
In Friday's race, they fell behind the Romanians early on, the first time this season they have been properly under pressure.
Biding their time, they waited until the third quarter of the race to put the hammer down and, by 500metres, they had pulled out a lead of a boat’s length.
Romania tried to come back at them but Craig and Grant fended off the challenge for Team GB’s second gold of this regatta.
As well as this being their last time racing together, Grant, who graduated with a medical degree from Cambridge University last year, will take up a first job as a doctor in Oxford three days after the closing ceremony.
In contrast, Craig, with a degree in Japanese art, will move into a career in that field.
