Cambridge rower makes history becoming reigning champion of last ever Olympic event
Cambridgeshire's Imogen Grant and her rowing partner Emily Craig have secured gold for Great Britain in the lightweight women's double sculls at the Paris 2024 Olympics - which is being removed from the Games programme for LA 2028 and beyond
Cambridgeshire's Britain's Emily Craig and Imogen Grant poses with with the gold medal in the women's lightweight double sculls rowing final during a medals ceremony at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Vaires-sur-Marne, France. and her rowing partner Emily Craig have secured gold for Great Britain in the lightweight women's double sculls at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The event is being removed from the Games programme for LA 2028 and beyond - so they will be reigning champions forever!
This victory follows a silver medal performance by Ollie Wynne-Griffith and Tom George in the men's pair event.
Craig and Grant finished just 0.01 seconds off the podium and 0.5 seconds from gold at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago. Grant, aged 31, has kept a picture of that photo finish on her living room wall as motivation. Their determination has paid off as they were unbeaten throughout this Olympiad, delivering a win by 1.72 seconds over the Romanian duo Gianina van Groningen and Ionela Cozmiuc.
Craig was visibly emotional after the race. "The title we craved is now ours in perpetuity," she said, acknowledging that this was the last time the event would be included in the Olympic Games. The British pair initially lagged slightly but surged ahead after 400 metres, establishing a one-second lead by the race's midpoint, which allowed them to maintain their position despite a strong late sprint from the Romanians.
In the men's pair, Wynne-Griffith and George led for much of the race but were narrowly beaten by Croatia’s Martin and Valent Sinkovic, who finished in 6 minutes 23.66 seconds, just under half a second ahead of the British team.
Wynne-Griffith, who, along with George, was part of the GB men's eight crew that won bronze at Tokyo 2020, reflected on the race. "I made a mistake on the line and that's racing for you," he said. "We had a great start and a strong first 1500m, but it came down to the last four strokes."
George remarked, "I don't think I want to watch that back; it was so close. We did an awesome race and achieved exactly what we set out to do. I'm proud of our performance, despite falling just three strokes short. We knew we would be hunted after the semi-finals, and we rose to the challenge."