Ireland’s O’Donovan and McCarthy win gold in Paris
Ireland’s Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy have retained their Olympic men’s lightweight double sculls title after winning gold in Paris.
Ireland’s Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy retained their Olympic men’s lightweight double sculls title after winning gold in Paris.
With the Irish support travelling to Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium in their numbers, O’Donovan and McCarthy delivered a dominant showing on the outskirts of Paris as they backed up their gold medal from Tokyo three years ago.
Both rowers hoisted their arms in the air as they reached the pontoon after the race, as the chants of ‘Ole, Ole, Ole’ rang out.
They finished with a time of 6:10.99, with Italy (6:13.33) and Greece (6:13.44) taking silver and bronze.
“There’s not many that thought we could do it before the regatta but we had some belief,” O’Donovan told BBC Sport NI.
“We trained very hard and put in solid performances all week. The crowd was full of tricolours and Irish supporters and we needed that to get us over the line.”
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In a fast start, the Irish crew were third after 500 metres as Italy and Greece tried to pull away from the rest of the field.
Using their experience, Ireland were second at the halfway point of the race, and O’Donovan and McCarthy hit the front for the first time with 750 metres remaining.
They opened up half a boat length lead with 500m remaining, and hit top gear in the closing stages to win by a clear margin ahead of the Italians and Greece, who won bronze.
“It felt like Skibbereen,” said a smiling McCarthy in reference to the strong Irish support.
“There were so many supporters and we can’t thank them enough, it really gave us a boost.”
On top of their two Olympic gold medals, the first of which came in Tokyo, McCarthy and O’Donovan are also three-time world champions and two-time European champions as a crew.
O’Donovan also won Olympic silver in Rio in 2016 and a world gold with his brother, Gary, and the 31-year-old also has two single sculls world championship titles to his name.
He is also the first Irish Olympian to win a medal a three consecutive Olympics, an achievement he says is a “fluke more than anything”.
After their latest win, O’Donovan and McCarthy have cemented their place as two of the greatest Irish Olympians in history.
Their triumph is Ireland’s second gold medal of the Games after swimmer Daniel Wiffen won the 800m freestyle on Tuesday.
Swimmer Mona McSharry and rowers Philip Doyle and Daire Lynch have also won bronze, while reigning Olympic champion Kellie Harrington is guaranteed a medal after reaching the boxing semi-finals.
