This was the moment that British Rowing’s frustrations, all the inquests and soul‑searching after the failure in Tokyo, were blown out of the water.
Up in the stand where she had just watched the women’s quadruple sculls crew perform a comeback for the ages, the director of performance, Louise Kingsley, could not suppress the widest of smiles.
Down below, next to waters warming all the time in extreme lunchtime heat, her winning quartet gazed disbelievingly at the solid, sought-after and ever so real gold medals that hung from their necks. Time will tell very quickly whether Lola Anderson, Hannah Scott, Lauren Henry and Georgie Brayshaw have opened the floodgates to an Olympic haul that might rival those of old.
But nobody who watched them push to the very limit here, catching a Netherlands boat that had led throughout and taking victory on the line by just 0.15 seconds, needed to think much further ahead. It was a breathtaking feat and revealed a mastery of fine margins that mere mortals might scarcely comprehend.
Handing out their rewards, Princess Anne joked the race had been a little too close for her liking. Shortly afterwards Scott, the boat’s one veteran of three years ago, insisted everything had been in hand. “Ten strokes out from the line I said: ‘We’ve got this,’ and we just came through,” she said.
For the crowd, who knew they were watching something special regardless of the outcome, it was far less clearcut, although the instinct after a photo-finish was that Great Britain had done just enough.
That was confirmed quickly, to wild celebrations on the boat. What had all the concern been about? As all four pointed out later, they know a thing or two about close finishes and had also edged out the Dutch to become world champions last September. “It might have been a bit nerve-racking for people but we were all eyes in,” Scott said.
The British crew had been favourites for gold after a stellar last 12 months but it was clear from the start that nothing would come easily. By halfway they had clawed into second place but the Netherlands, who had raced away immediately, were still setting a formidable pace. With 700 metres to go, the gap began narrowing to well under a length and, for the final quarter, it was clear they were the fastest-moving boat on view.
From here, the strong finish this team has become renowned for kicked in. It was time to test the limits of endurance and there is never any guarantee that ends well. As Scott explained, what happened next was the product of three years’ work, three years of care and sweat over every single stroke. It was where the sacrifices, the personal and professional obstacles, those struggles to manage work-life balance, all coalesced into something unstoppable.
For Brayshaw there was the journey she undertook since, at 15, a horse riding accident left her in a coma; for Anderson, there was the profoundly felt influence of her late father, Don; for the youngest member Henry, relatively new to the team version of this sport, the hours spent adapting bore glorious fruit; in Scott’s case there was the satisfaction of succeeding where, in Japan, her crew had been disconsolate after falling short.
These stories are so much more than positions in a ranking, yet this result tells them succinctly, too. Anderson paid tearful tribute to Don after the ceremony and took the significance further, pointing out young women need inspirations like this. “There’s nothing unfeminine about getting strong, getting athletic, enjoying being aggressive and racy,” she said. “Young girls are now starting to explore the joys of sport, how much confidence it can give. I just want all the girls out there to feel the same way we do.”
Earlier in the day her male counterparts had narrowly missed out on a medal, this time finding a Netherlands team impossible to outdo. Graeme Thomas, Matt Haywood, Callum Dixon and the Tokyo silver medallist in the quad, Tom Barras, knew they would have their work cut out against a boat that had looked in fine nick during the heats.
The crew in orange won gold comfortably from Italy and Poland, the Britons staying in touch throughout, to finish fourth, without quite managing a late charge of their own. “Absolutely gutted,” said the 35-year-old Thomas, who overcame a back operation to compete here. “We gave absolutely everything out there, but I’m proud of what we did.”
Moments later they were all enthusing over the white-knuckle performance of the women’s boat. This is a team with togetherness, purpose and a touch of stardust that the double Olympic champion Helen Glover will add when leading her country into the women’s coxless four final on Thursday. “There are so many women that have come before us, fed into this, gave us this belief,” Henry said.
Now a new generation will be able to say the same of her.
